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Dazzle Ships

 
Album Review: Dazzle Ships
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Dazzle Ships

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Review

OMD's glistening run of top-flight singles and chart domination came to a temporary but dramatic halt with Dazzle Ships, the point where the band's pushing of boundaries reached their furthest limit. McCluskey, Humphreys, and company couldn't take many listeners with them, though, and it's little surprise why -- a couple of moments aside, Dazzle Ships is pop of the most fragmented kind, a concept album released in an era that had nothing to do with such conceits. On its own merits, though, it is dazzling indeed, a Kid A of its time that never received a comparative level of contemporary attention and appreciation. Indeed, Radiohead's own plunge into abstract electronics and meditations on biological and technological advances seems to be echoing the themes and construction of Dazzle Ships. What else can be said when hearing the album's lead single, the soaring "Genetic Engineering," with its Speak & Spell toy vocals and an opening sequence that also sounds like the inspiration for "Fitter, Happier," for instance? Why it wasn't a hit remains a mystery, but it and the equally enjoyable, energetic "Telegraph" and "Radio Waves" are definitely the poppiest moments on the album. Conceived around visions of cryptic Cold War tension, the rise of computers in everyday life, and European and global reference points -- time zone recordings and snippets of shortwave broadcasts -- Dazzle Ships beats Kraftwerk at their own game, science and the future turned into surprisingly warm, evocative songs or sudden stop-start instrumental fragments. "Dazzle Ships (Parts II, III, and VII)" itself captures the alien feeling of the album best, with its distanced, echoing noises and curious rhythms, sliding into the lovely "The Romance of the Telescope." "This Is Helena" works in everything from what sounds like heavily treated and flanged string arrangements to radio announcer samples, while "Silent Running" becomes another in the line of emotional, breathtaking OMD ballads, McCluskey's voice the gripping centerpiece. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Radio Prague Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1:18)
Genetic Engineering (Lyrics) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (3:37)
ABC Auto-Industry (Lyrics) Paul Humphreys, Andy McCluskey Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (2:06)
Telegraph (Lyrics) John Williams, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (2:57)
This Is Helena (Lyrics) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1:58)
International Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (4:25)
Dazzle Ships, Pts. 1, 2, & 3 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (2:21)
The Romance of the Telescope Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (3:27)
Silent Running (Lyrics) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (3:34)
Radio Waves Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (3:45)
Time Zones Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1:49)
Of All the Things We've Made (Lyrics) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (3:27)

Credits

Andy McCluskey (Guitar), Tony Lawrence (Engineer), Paul Humphreys (?), Paul Humphreys (Vocals), Sue Sawyer (Engineer), Jean-Michel Reusser (Engineer), Paul Humphreys (Keyboards), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (Engineer), G.A. McCluskey (?), M.H. Cooper (?), Paul Humphreys (Percussion), Andy McCluskey (Keyboards), Keith Richard Nixon (Engineer), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (Producer), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (Arranger), Rhett Davies (Engineer), Ian Little (Engineer), Brian Tench (Engineer), Paul Ward (Engineer), Mike Stark (Engineer), Malcolm Holmes (?), Andy Dunkley (Engineer), Rhett Davies (Producer), Maureen Humphreys (Vocals), Dirk Hohmeyer (Engineer), Andy McCluskey (Vocals), Arun Chakraverty (Mastering)
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Wikipedia: Dazzle Ships (album)
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Dazzle Ships
Studio album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Released 4 March 1983 (1983-03-04)
Recorded 1982
The Gramophone Suite
Gallery Studio
Mayfair Studio
Genre Electronic music
Musique concrète
Experimental music
Synthpop
Length 34:43
60:13 (2008 reissue)
Label Telegraph (Virgin)
Producer Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Rhett Davies
Professional reviews
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology
Architecture & Morality
(1981)		 Dazzle Ships
(1983)		 Junk Culture
(1984)
Singles from Dazzle Ships
  1. "Genetic Engineering"
    Released: 1 February 1983 (1983-02-01)
  2. "Telegraph"
    Released: 1 April 1983 (1983-04-01)

Dazzle Ships is the fourth album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released in 1983.

The title and cover art (designed by Peter Saville) alluded to a painting by Vorticist artist Edward Wadsworth based on dazzle camouflage. The album was released on LP, compact cassette and compact disc, with distinct artwork.

The album was the follow-up release to the band's hugely successful Architecture & Morality. In contrast with its celebrated predecessor, Dazzle Ships met with a degree of critical and commercial hostility, due to the inaccessible nature of half of the material it contained, particularly musique concrète sound collages, utilising shortwave radio recordings to explore Cold War and Eastern Bloc themes (the odd numbered tracks). However the album did also contain six conventional pop songs (the even numbered tracks and track 9), both up-tempo numbers, and ballads. Two of them, "The Romance of the Telescope" and "Of all the Things we've Made" were remixed versions of songs previously issued on B-sides to earlier singles, leaving only four new "real" songs on this album, one of them, "Radio Waves", being a new version of a song from previous Humphreys & McCluskey's pre-OMD band, The Id. Two singles were released from it, "Genetic Engineering" and "Telegraph", which achieved moderate chart success in the United Kingdom and on American rock and college radio. Both were also released as 7" vinyl picture discs.

The album was co-produced with Rhett Davies, who was best known for his work on lusher-sounding albums by the reformed Roxy Music.

The band's former record company, the independent DinDisc label, had recently ceased trading, and so the bands contract was transferred to DinDisc's parent company, Virgin Records. However, in order to maintain the image of being signed to an "indie" label, the record sleeve purported that the album was released by the fictitious "Telegraph" label.

On 3 March 2008 (2008-03-03) a remastered compact disc with bonus tracks was released, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the album[7]. The critical hostility towards the album had cooled and the reissue of Dazzle Ships received positive reviews from Pitchfork Media[6], Popmatters[5] and The A.V. Club[2], among others.

Contents

Track listing

All songs were written by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, except where noted.

Side one
# Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Radio Prague"   arranged by OMD 1:18
2. "Genetic Engineering"     3:37
3. "ABC Auto-Industry"     2:06
4. "Telegraph"     2:57
5. "This Is Helena"     1:58
6. "International"     4:25
Side two
# Title Writer(s) Length
7. "Dazzle Ships (Parts II, III & VII)"     2:21
8. "The Romance of the Telescope"     3:27
9. "Silent Running"     3:34
10. "Radio Waves"   OMD, John Floyd 3:45
11. "Time Zones"   arranged by OMD 1:49
12. "Of All the Things We've Made"     3:27
Bonus tracks on 2008 reissue
# Title Writer(s) Length
13. "Telegraph (The Manor Version 1981)"     3:25
14. "4-Neu"     3:34
15. "Genetic Engineering (312MM Version)"     5:12
16. "66 and Fading"     6:33
17. "Telegraph (Extended Version)"     5:38
18. "Swiss Radio International"   arranged by OMD 1:03

The "Manor Version" of "Telegraph" was recorded at the same time as Architecture & Morality. "Swiss Radio International" was dropped from the album at the last minute. Like "Radio Prague", it contains the call sign for a radio station and was once referred to as "The Ice Cream Song" by drummer Mal Holmes due to its similarity to the melodies played by ice cream vans.

Chart performance

Chart (1983) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[8] 5
New Zealand Albums Chart [9] 10
Swedish Albums Chart[10] 38
US Billboard Pop Albums[11] 162

Singles

Genetic Engineering

  • 7": Telegraph VS 527
  1. "Genetic Engineering" – 3:37
  2. "4-Neu" – 3:33
  • 12": Telegraph VS 527-12
  1. "Genetic Engineering (312mm Version)" – 5:18
  2. "4-Neu" – 3:33

The punning title of "4-Neu" was a dedication to the influential "krautrock" band Neu!. "312mm" is simply the metric equivalent of twelve inches.

Telegraph

  • 7": Telegraph VS 580
  1. "Telegraph" – 2:57
  2. "66-And Fading" – 6:40
  • 12": Telegraph VSY 580-12
  1. "Telegraph (Extended Version)" – 5:53
  2. "66-And Fading" – 6:30

Notes

The "Radio Prague" track is the actual interval signal of the Czechoslovak Radio foreign service, including the time signal and station ID spoken in Czech. "Time Zones" is a montage of various speaking clocks from around the world. Neither "Radio Prague" nor "Time Zones" carry any writing credit at all, with OMD being credited only for arranging the tracks. The "This Is Helena", "ABC Auto-Industry" and "International" tracks also include parts of some broadcasts recorded off-air (a presenter introducing herself, economic bulletin and news, respectively). [12]

Owen Pallett of the one-man violin-based Canadian indie act Final Fantasy has covered tracks 1-4 seamlessly while performing live shows.

Personnel

Production details

  • recorded at The Gramophone Suite, Gallery Studio and Mayfair Studio
  • mixed at The Manor Studio
  • engineered by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Rhett Davies, Ian Little, Keith Richard Nixon, Brian Tench
  • produced by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Rhett Davies
  • mastered at The Master Room by Arun Chakraverty
  • designed by M. Garrett, K. Kennedy, P. Pennington, Peter Saville, and Brett Wickens for Peter Saville Associates.

Instruments

In terms of instrumentation, Dazzle Ships saw the band begin to explore digital sampling keyboards (the E-mu Emulator) in addition to their continued use of analog synthesizers and the Mellotron.

List of used instruments:

External links

References

  1. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Dazzle Ships review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dxfqxzljld6e~T1. Retrieved 3 October 2009 (2009-10-03). 
  2. ^ a b O'Neal, Sean (26 December 2006 (2006-12-26)). "Permanent Records: Albums From The A.V. Club's Hall Of Fame". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/permanent-records-albums-from-the-av-clubs-hall-of,16684/. Retrieved 3 October 2009 (2009-10-03). 
  3. ^ Easlea, Daryl (20 February 2008 (2008-02-20)). "Review of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Dazzle Ships". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/xv3n/. Retrieved 3 October 2009 (2009-10-03). 
  4. ^ Easlea, Daryl. "Dazzle Ships - OMD - Album Review". Record Collector. http://www.recordcollectormag.com/reviews/review-detail/2255. Retrieved 3 October 2009 (2009-10-03). 
  5. ^ a b Bergstrom, John (17 April 2008 (2008-04-17)). "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Dazzle Ships Review". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-dark-dazzle-ships. Retrieved 3 October 2009 (2009-10-03). 
  6. ^ a b Ewing, Tom (17 April 2008 (2008-04-17)). "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Dazzle Ships". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11363-dazzle-ships/. Retrieved 3 October 2009 (2009-10-03). 
  7. ^ "OMD News: March 2008". http://www.omd.uk.com/html/mar_08.html. Retrieved 27 February 2009 (2009-02-27). 
  8. ^ "Chart Stats - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Dazzle Ships". http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=7163. Retrieved 4 October 2009 (2009-10-04). 
  9. ^ "charts.org.nz - OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) - Dazzle Ships". http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=OMD+%28Orchestral+Manoeuvres+In+The+Dark%29&titel=Dazzle+Ships&cat=a. Retrieved 4 October 2009 (2009-10-04). 
  10. ^ "swedishcharts.com - OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) - Dazzle Ships". http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=OMD+(Orchestral+Manoeuvres+In+The+Dark)&titel=Dazzle+Ships&cat=a. Retrieved 4 October 2009 (2009-10-04). 
  11. ^ "allmusic - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:39fpxq9gldfe~T5. Retrieved 4 October 2009 (2009-10-04). 
  12. ^ "OMD Official Website Discography entry". http://www.omd.uk.com/discography/albums/html/a_10.html. Retrieved 2008-04-09. 
  • Liner notes
v • d • e
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Andy McCluskey • Paul Humphreys • Malcolm Holmes • Martin Cooper
Mike Douglas • David Hughes • Graham Weir • Neil Weir • Stuart Kershaw • Lloyd Massett • Nigel Ipinson • Phil Coxon • Abe Jukes
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Live albums
Singles and EPs
Videography
Live at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane • Crush the Movie • The Best of OMD • Souvenir • OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More  • Messages: Greatest Hits • Electricity: OMD with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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