Retro Spins: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Dazzle Ships

I imagine as an artist that there's nothing worse than having a successful album, being burned out from that process, not having any new ideas, and all at the same time having a record label on your heels demanding a follow-up. Such was the case for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark when 1982 rolled around.

While O.M.D.'s previous album had been handled by the subsidiary label, Dindisc, their consisten release of gold albums, and continued hits in the UK resulted in Virgin taking over direct distribution under their guise label, Telegraph. With it came higher pressure to deliver, and as noted above, a demand for another album that would better their previously released Architecture & Morality (1981).

Andy McCluskey, and Paul Humphreys would approach what would become 1983's Dazzle Ships with a shift in musical style, perhaps their biggest misstep at the time. The group would departe from their staple sound, opting for more experimental content. The band would later acknowledge their error in the final product, stating that the good songs had gotten lost got lost within the overall presentation. Regardless, Dazzle Ships would become their fourth consecutive gold certified album.

I wanted to find something on the album that would intrigue me. I wanted it to be another one of those situations where what the critics panned, I went to the opposite spectrum of and felt was perfect. That was so not the case here.

As it played and played for what felt like an eternity, despite its relatively short runtime of thirty-five minutes, Dazzle Ships just never set sail. By the end of it, I was more so happy to be done with it, than to have spent the last half hour listening to music. That's absolutely the wrong effect an album should have.

It kind of fatigued me to, where I need a break from O.M.D. before trekking into the remaining three albums of the decade. I'm just not mentally ready for more. While I don't know that said break will necessarily impact me posting their next album tomorrow, I know that I'm not diving directly into it. Either other posts will get worked on, and I'll circle back, or I'll just take a couple days before venturing in.

For the band, perhaps its commercial failure ultimately ended up being a blessing in disguise, as when they started work on what would become 1984's junk culture, they shift direction again, focusing instead on a more mainstream pop-oriented sound. This eventually led to their biggest hit single, 1986's If You Leave. But all of that is still to come.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
December 15, 1984