I'm not the hugest enthusiast for the really commercial side of '80s electronic music or OMD in particular-- generally speaking I only recognized them among their like-sounding peers because they tend to have an actual bass guitar in the mix-- but I try not to be too snobbish about it either. This was compact, melodic pop music of the type that really has its roots in the '6os bands I tend to like quite a bit, so I can find my way into it like that, and looking at the songs as deserving hit singles rather than expecting any kind of heft from the artists themselves seems to even it all out.And my original intention was to do this as, for all practical purposes, a Merseybeat number. But my body gave out on me, and there was a pathetic moment when I felt so lousy and weekened that I couldn't even drag a few MIDI blips up from B flat to C, and that's when you start helping your expectations to diminish themselves as quickly as you can.
Personnel: Rex
Early OMD (first 4 or 5 albums) is much better, much deeper and more avant-garde, than "early '80s synth-pop" suggests. They sorta went off the deep end afterwards, though - once they started using more contemporary synths (once they could afford them), they sounded more & more like everyone else. I highly recommend you check out Architecture & Morality and Dazzle Ships (third and fourth albums)...
ReplyDeleteMight do so. I thought I'd finally reached the end of "but their early stuff is actually pretty interesting" bands, but there's *always* another one. I though OMD was actually designed by John Hughes or something.
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