The Best of OMD
| The Best of OMD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | ||||
| Released | 12 March 1988 | |||
| Recorded | 1979–1988 | |||
| Genre | Synthpop | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer |
OMD Mike Howlett Richard Manwaring Rhett Davies Brian Tench Stephen Hague Tom Lord Alge | |||
| Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | B+[2] |
The Best of OMD is a compilation album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released in 1988.
The record essentially delineates the group's experimental early years from their pop-oriented later work: side one features recordings from 1979–1984, while side two is drawn from the group's 1984–1988 efforts. It was a worldwide success, becoming a Top 5 hit across Europe and achieving 3x platinum sales in the United Kingdom. "Dreaming" was released as a single and made little impact on the UK charts, reaching #50, but it was a hit in the US (#16) and Germany (#26).
Album information
The version of "Electricity" used is the same as the one featured on their debut album (which itself is the band reworking Martin Hannett's original Factory version). The band was originally going to use their very first version of this song, but found the drumming to be inferior and so settled for the remix of the track instead. "Messages" is the more popular 10" single version. "Tesla Girls" and "Talking Loud and Clear" are both 7" edited versions. The Australian version of the album featured "We Love You" since that song had been a popular hit there. The CD, MiniDisc and DCC versions of the album are resequenced and feature four extra tracks not present on the LP version: "Telegraph" (a unique mix differing from the album version), "Genetic Engineering", and 12" versions of "La Femme Accident" and "We Love You". There was also a video compilation released with the promo videos of some of the songs featured on the album.
Track listing
All songs written by OMD, except "Locomotion" written by OMD and Gordian Troeller. "So in Love" written by OMD and Stephen Hague.
Vinyl LP and Musicassette
| Side one | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Electricity" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | 3:30 | ||||||
| 2. | "Messages" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | 4:44 | ||||||
| 3. | "Enola Gay" | McCluskey | Organisation | 3:31 | ||||||
| 4. | "Souvenir" | Humphreys, Cooper | Architecture & Morality | 3:34 | ||||||
| 5. | "Joan of Arc" | McCluskey | Architecture & Morality | 3:47 | ||||||
| 6. | "Maid of Orleans" | McCluskey | Architecture & Morality | 4:09 | ||||||
| 7. | "Talking Loud and Clear" | Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper | Junk Culture | 3:53 | ||||||
| Side two | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Tesla Girls" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Junk Culture | 3:33 | ||||||
| 2. | "Locomotion" | Humphreys, McCluskey, Gordian Troeller | Junk Culture | 3:53 | ||||||
| 3. | "So in Love" | Humphreys, McCluskey, Stephen Hague | Crush | 3:28 | ||||||
| 4. | "Secret" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Crush | 3:56 | ||||||
| 5. | "If You Leave" | Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper | Pretty in Pink | 4:28 | ||||||
| 6. | "(Forever) Live and Die" | Humphreys, Weir, Weir | The Pacific Age | 3:34 | ||||||
| 7. | "Dreaming" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Previously unreleased | 3:54 | ||||||
Compact Disc, MiniDisc and Digital Compact Cassette
| Track listing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Electricity" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | 3:30 | ||||||
| 2. | "Messages" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | 4:44 | ||||||
| 3. | "Enola Gay" | McCluskey | Organisation | 3:31 | ||||||
| 4. | "Souvenir" | Humphreys, Cooper | Architecture & Morality | 3:34 | ||||||
| 5. | "Joan of Arc" | McCluskey | Architecture & Morality | 3:47 | ||||||
| 6. | "Maid of Orleans" | McCluskey | Architecture & Morality | 4:09 | ||||||
| 7. | "Telegraph" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Dazzle Ships | 3:43 | ||||||
| 8. | "Tesla Girls" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Junk Culture | 3:33 | ||||||
| 9. | "Locomotion" | Humphreys, McCluskey, Troeller | Junk Culture | 3:53 | ||||||
| 10. | "Talking Loud and Clear" | Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper | Junk Culture | 3:53 | ||||||
| 11. | "So in Love" | Humphreys, McCluskey, Hague | Crush | 3:28 | ||||||
| 12. | "Secret" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Crush | 3:56 | ||||||
| 13. | "If You Leave" | Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper | Pretty in Pink | 4:28 | ||||||
| 14. | "(Forever) Live and Die" | Humphreys, Weir, Weir | The Pacific Age | 3:34 | ||||||
| 15. | "Dreaming" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Previously unreleased | 3:54 | ||||||
| 16. | "Genetic Engineering" | Humphreys, McCluskey | Dazzle Ships | 3:35 | ||||||
| 17. | "We Love You" (12" Version) | Humphreys, McCluskey, Hague | The Pacific Age | 6:14 | ||||||
| 18. | "La Femme Accident" (12" Version) | Humphreys, McCluskey | Crush | 6:16 | ||||||
VHS Video
| Track listing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "Electricity" | |||||||||
| 2. | "Messages" | |||||||||
| 3. | "Enola Gay" | |||||||||
| 4. | "Souvenir" | |||||||||
| 5. | "Maid of Orleans" | |||||||||
| 6. | "Talking Loud and Clear" | |||||||||
| 7. | "Tesla Girls" | |||||||||
| 8. | "Locomotion" | |||||||||
| 9. | "So in Love" | |||||||||
| 10. | "Secret" | |||||||||
| 11. | "If You Leave" | |||||||||
| 12. | "(Forever) Live and Die" | |||||||||
| 13. | "Dreaming" | |||||||||
| 14. | "Telegraph" | |||||||||
| 15. | "We Love You" | |||||||||
| 16. | "La Femme Accident" | |||||||||
Release history
| Country | Date | Format | Label | Cat.no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 1988 | LP | Virgin | OMD1 |
| Musicassette | TCOMD1 | |||
| Compact Disc | CD OMD1 | |||
| MiniDisc | MD OMD1 | |||
| DCC | 458604 | |||
| VHS | VVD247 | |||
Credits
- "Electricity" and "Dreaming" are produced by OMD.
- "Messages", "Enola Gay" and "Souvenir" are produced by OMD and Mike Howlett.
- "Joan of Arc" and "Maid of Orleans" are produced by OMD and Richard Manwaring.
- "Telegraph" and "Genetic Engineering" are produced by OMD and Rhett Davies.
- "Tesla Girls", "Locomotion" and "Talking Loud and Clear" are produced by OMD and Brian Tench.
- "So in Love", "Secret", "(Forever) Live and Die", "We Love You" and "La Femme Accident" are produced by Stephen Hague.
- "If You Leave" is produced by OMD and Tom Lord Alge.
Notes
- ↑ AllMusic review
- ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.