{"id":40934,"date":"2008-06-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/omd-live-architecture-morality-more-dvd\/"},"modified":"2008-06-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-06-03T00:00:00","slug":"omd-live-architecture-morality-more-dvd","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/omd-live-architecture-morality-more-dvd\/","title":{"rendered":"OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More (DVD)"},"content":{"rendered":"

England<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark (OMD) were never supposed to be a pop band.\u00a0 If you ask original founding members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, they\u2019ll tell you OMD were experimental from the get go. Looking back on their earlier work, calling OMD \u201cexperimental\u201d seems like a fair assessment. Thing is, regardless of how experimental their synth-driven records were, it turned out they could write exceptionally catchy music. <\/p>\n

I mean, if my only claim to fame was a track like 1985\u2019s \u201cIf You Leave,\u201d I could die a happy man. Sweet baby Jesus, that\u2019s a great song. <\/p>\n

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. It\u2019s dated \u201880s John Hughes-pop, but I dare you to try and write a catchier tune. That isn\u2019t OMD\u2019s only claim to fame; they had a string of hits in both England<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> and Europe<\/st1:place> and even managed to break the impenetrable American pop charts on more than one occasion. Not bad for an experimental synth band that started out just doodling on mail-order keyboards and a four-track tape recorder. <\/p>\n

Prior to OMD\u2019s reunion in 2006, the band hadn\u2019t played together since they opened for Depeche Mode at that oh-so-legendary 1988 Pasadena Rose Bowl show. OMD had gathered for a television appearance some eighteen years later and having realized how fun it was to play, just sort of decided to put things back together again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Glad they did. The results are marvelous.<\/p>\n

Eagle Vision has released OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More<\/i> on both DVD and CD. Because Architecture & Morality<\/i> was their most potent and meaningful artistic statement, OMD decided to tour the album once more. Although the album is rearranged (numerically, not musically) for the concert, it sounds just as good as the original record and the use of clever onstage graphics really bring the music to life. The DVD\/CD features the album in its entirety (\u201cArchitecture & Morality,\u201d \u201cSealand,\u201d \u201cThe New Stone Age,\u201d \u201cGeorgia,\u201d \u201cSouvenir,\u201d etc.) and also includes other OMD catalog highlights (\u201cIf You Leave,\u201d \u201cSo In Love,\u201d \u201cEnola Gay,\u201d etc.).\u00a0 The DVD also features extended interviews with the band, which provide some interesting context and perspective on OMD. <\/p>\n

Reunion<\/st1:place> tours are rarely a good idea, especially when it\u2019s a band that is as out-of-date and forgotten as OMD. But OMD were always sort of at the top of their game; they were as sophisticated and intellectual as synth-pop could be. For many critics, OMD were the best in their class. This evaluation shines through on the DVD. The sonic quality is incredible and McCluskey\u2019s voice \u2013 his falsetto in particular \u2013 sounds just as good as it always did. The band is clean-cut and well-dressed; they\u2019re not holding on to any of the \u201880s pop hairspray and makeup bullshit (that terrifying, balding, overweight, mascara-wearing goth-nightmare Robert Smith could take a few lessons from OMD on how to perpetuate your relevance with dignity). <\/p>\n

A strong performance from a strong, well-respected band that might never get the recognition they deserve, Architecture & Morality & More <\/i>does a tremendous job of upholding OMD\u2019s legacy. Let\u2019s hope that if and when they do a new studio record, the results do even more to preserve their legacy and nothing to blemish it.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":29364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7623],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-40934","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-dark","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40934"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}