The Best of OMD

Untitled

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 no. 50, but it was a hit in the US (no. 16), Germany (no. 26) and South Africa (no. 2).

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" is a compilation version not previously released; and "Talking Loud and Clear" is the 7" edited version.

The worldwide 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 found only on this release, differing from the album version and both 12" versions), "Genetic Engineering", and 12" versions of "La Femme Accident" and "We Love You". The US CD adds only the latter two 12" versions. The Australian version of the vinyl album replaces "Secret" with "We Love You", since that song had been a popular hit there. There was also a video compilation released with the promo videos of some of the songs featured on the album.

It was the group's final album release of the decade, effectively closing a chapter on their history, and just before founding members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys split in 1989, leaving the group name to McCluskey. According to Andy McCluskey, OMD released the album in order to pay off debts owned to Virgin Records.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau	B+

Robert Christgau noted that the album includes "technocratic dance-kitsch as amusing as 'Electricity' and 'Enola Gay', and 'Talking Loud and Clear', their cutest and catchiest romantic medium-tempo [song]". He added that "the many others here included will certainly entertain the hookily inclined."

Mike DeGagne in AllMusic also highlighted the band's knack for strong hooks, and referred to The Best of OMD as an "excellent compilation" from a group who "were responsible for some of the catchiest and brightest synth pop that the '80s had to offer". Trouser Press called it "a concise recapitulation of the band's artistic development".

Track listing

All songs written by OMD, except "Locomotion" written by OMD and Gordian Troeller, and "So in Love" written by OMD and Stephen Hague.

Vinyl LP and Music Cassette

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

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

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.