Search - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark :: Organisation

OMD 2

Mark Champion | San Antonio, TX United States | 12/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pretty remarkable. As melodic as many of its like-minded contemporaries were musically angular- -ironic, considering the Kraftwerk reference of the title- -this second album by OMD transcends its immediate predecessor and most of its contemporaries by miles. It's mostly rather pretty, but its prettiness is undermined by a pervasive melancholy. Even the single, 'Enola Gay', is in wry memoriam of the atomic bomb-dropping airplane of World War II. Other tracks barely rise to the energy-level of the single, but this is not a bad thing. 'Second Thought', 'Statues', and especially 'Stanlow' (dedicated as it is to the power plant where the father of singer Andy McCluskey worked) achieve a stateliness that few of the band's contemporaries could even approach. Only the downer version of 'The More I See You' seems out of place, but it's redeemed by its ironic stance. The bonus tracks include 'Annex' (the B-side to 'Enola Gay') and the post-Factory version of 'Electricity', as well as the four tracks from a 7-inch EP included with early copies of the LP (I think it was released with a brown background rather than black), consisting of very early live and experimental tapes. Pretty handsome."

What's in a name?

simon | London, England | 06/29/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First I must admit that I don't actually know why this album was called Organisation, however, I can guess that the 'big business' or at least relative big business feel of Virgin Records DinDisc offshoot was making its presence felt. Now, I mean that in a positive way because here is a record that shows what can happen when creative people like Andy and Paul hook up with the cash to buy real instruments and hire a real producer like Mike Howlett. And, of course, let Malcolm play real drums and cymbals (well, hi-hat anyway) on some of the tracks, rather than forcing him to be a full time human electro-metronome.Compare this effort with their first album where they were constrained by (literally) home made drums and archaic keyboards, no wonder this recording is so different with it's real although heavily gated drums, properly recorded vocals and the hot keyboard of the day, the Prophet 10. To prove the point and take a step back in time, listen to the cover of 'The More I See You' which the boys actually recorded themselves at The Gramophone Suite which for you Liverpudlian Musicians was their private studio located above the Frank Hessy music store in the city centre. Personally I prefer the new direction and McCluskey and Humphreys' songwriting.Coming back up to date, if there are any samplists reading this, don't delay, just go ahead and plug this baby into your Akai because Organisation includes some of the most beautiful sounds ever committed to vinyl, and this from a trio who assured us all that they were non-musicians. Maybe that's true but these textures and chord changes did not happen by accident.Take a listen to Statues and let the lush multi textures wash gently over you. On the second listen, because you will want to hear it again immediately, watch out for the tape glitch that caused Andy Mac so much angst when he heard the master for the first time after the recording session. He was assured that nobody would notice and they probably didn't but this little technical gremlin surely brings the Beatles 'All You Need Is Love' to mind.Now move on to Stanlow, a groaning clanking homage to the oil refinery at the Eastern end of the Mersey Estuary where Andy's father had worked for so many years....is it a song? I don't know but it is a beautiful thing to listen to.....interesting that a collection of such harsh sounds can be blended to make one beautiful one. I am sure that this did not pass Depeche Mode by.At this time I believe that OMITD which was the then current abbreviation, was most strongly influenced by three bands, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads and Roxy Music. Now they don't sound at all like Talking Heads but the quirky/intelligent/subversive nature of David Byrne shines through. Seems to me that Enola Gay was borne of Byrnes thought processes, Kraftwerks sounds and some of the pop greatness of Roxy's 'Flesh and Blood'. It probably didn't hurt that Andy had an admirable collection of WW2 Airfix Bombers in his bedroom in Meols either.And what of the rest? Who cares?? Because these three are well worth the price of admission anyway and whatever else you get will be a pleasant surprise I can assure you, it just won't have the enduring presence of Enola Gay, Statues or Stanlow.And what came next? Architecture and Morality, but that's a whole other story and a completely new (old) keyboard. No prizes for telling me what it was.....I'll tell you all another day."