Dazzle Ships

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Dazzle Ships (1983) {Virgin CDV 2261 rel 1984}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 217 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 84 Mb
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© 1983, 1984 Telegraph / Virgin Records | CDV 2261
Synth Pop / New Wave / Alternative Dance / New Romantic

OMD's glistening run of top-flight singles and chart domination came to a temporary but dramatic halt with Dazzle Ships, the point where the band's pushing of boundaries reached their furthest limit. McCluskey, Humphreys, and company couldn't take many listeners with them, though, and it's little surprise why – a couple of moments aside, Dazzle Ships is pop of the most fragmented kind, a concept album released in an era that had nothing to do with such conceits. On its own merits, though, it is dazzling indeed, a Kid A of its time that never received a comparative level of contemporary attention and appreciation. Indeed, Radiohead's own plunge into abstract electronics and meditations on biological and technological advances seems to be echoing the themes and construction of Dazzle Ships.

OMD's glistening run of top-flight singles and chart domination came to a temporary but dramatic halt with Dazzle Ships, the point where the band's pushing of boundaries reached their furthest limit. McCluskey, Humphreys, and company couldn't take many listeners with them, though, and it's little surprise why - a couple of moments aside, Dazzle Ships is pop of the most fragmented kind, a concept album released in an era that had nothing to do with such conceits. On its own merits, though, it is dazzling indeed, a Kid A of its time that never received a comparative level of contemporary attention and appreciation. Indeed, Radiohead's own plunge into abstract electronics and meditations on biological and technological advances seems to be echoing the themes and construction of Dazzle Ships…

Mojo's bespoke Man Machine collection underlines Ralf's points perfectly, spanning three decades and showcasing the genre's evolution.
The pioneering sounds of Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre sit alongside the second-gen electronic adventurers Ultravox, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and The Orb, while the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Fujiya & Miyagi, Four Tet, Audion and M83 are among those who continue to push the genre forward.
Welcome, then, to a revolution in sound, and a compilation that proves just how far things have progressed since Autobahn's release was met with the critical, quizzical side-swipe of "It's good, but is it rock?"

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Junk Culture (1984) {2015 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition 4701075}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 765 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 267 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 795 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1984, 2015 Virgin EMI Music / Universal | 4701075
Synth Pop / New Wave / Alternative Dance / New Romantic

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark will reissue its fifth album, 1984′s pop comeback Junk Culture, in February as a two-disc Deluxe Edition that will find the original album fully remastered and supplemented by a disc of the era’s B-sides, extended remixes and five previously unreleased songs and demos. The bonus disc features 10 B-sides and remixes, plus two previously unheard songs (“All or Nothing” with Paul Humphreys on vocals, and “10 to 1,” an unreleased song featuring lyrics later used in “Love and Violence”), plus three previously unreleased Junk Culture demos.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) continue their 40th anniversary celebrations with the announcement of a career box set, Souvenir and brand new greatest hits collection of the same name, due out on 4 October.

This live album was recorded at OMD's show at the Liverpool Empire on 4th November, the hometown show on the 40th Anniversary Greatest Hits tour.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are one of the earliest, most commercially successful, and enduring synth pop groups. Inspired most by the advancements of Kraftwerk and striving at one point "to be ABBA and Stockhausen," they've continually drawn from early electronic music as they've alternately disregarded, mutated, or embraced the conventions of the three-minute pop song. Outside their native England, OMD are known primarily for "Maid of Orleans" and the Pretty in Pink soundtrack smash "If You Leave," yet they scored 18 additional charting U.K. singles in the '80s alone…