OMD - history of modern

 

picked up the new OMD album, which i find to be a remarkable comeback after so many years out of the spotlight. though the album certainly has some questionable direction on a few tracks (three of them are just terrible), for the most part, this album fits very easily into a space somewhere between -- and spanning -- architecture and morality, junk culture, and crush. not so much dazzle ships, which would have been way too experimental as a comeback. really, some great stuff here:

1. new babies: new toys: fairly unremarkable opener to the album, but not offensive. more in line with their "john hughes" phase than their earlier releases. move past this track without judging, because it gets a lot better...
   
   
2. if you want it: first single (which had a laughable dance video) is all about heavenly choruses getting interrupted by his lead vocals. it's a decent, accessible pop song, ready for airplay.
   
   
3. history of modern (part 1): here's where the album kicks into gear...taking us back to 1985, keyboards running scales up against the drum machine. more in line with junk culture than later releases, which is a good great place to touch back to.
   
   
4. history of modern (part 2): picking up from the previous track, and all the more thumpy bass and drum machine, and very much in line with architecture and morality.
   
   
5. sometimes: kills the momentum the album just gained. this track is dreadful, as if they found some old moby backing vocals and decided to slander him with it. you will miss nothing by skipping over this completely.
   
   
6. RFWK: back to the good stuff. btw, did we know the band took a gay perspective? here the lead sings "i loved you when" lines to a male figure, with which i have no problem (obvies)...i just didn't know this.
   
   
7. new holy ground: returning to their religious imagery, "new holy ground" is a little more moody, a little more introspective, than prior tracks, a la "joan of arc" before the percussion. nice.
   
   
8. the future, the past, and forever: trying to find their funk, not finding it. another track that doesn't belong.
   
   
9. sister mary says: indulging more in the cliches that they themselves established, (and that's a compliment), the arrangement of "sister mary" makes something of a companion piece to "enola gay" (though not lyrically).
   
   
10. pulse: see "the future, the past, and forever", above. i'm not saying a band who have been out of the spotlight for well over a decade doesn't have a right to put out something unexpected...i'm just saying this isn't the way to do it.
    
    
11. green: toning down "if you want it", above. not a bad track, but works best if associated with the other track.
    
    
12. bondage of fate: you know how some movies seem to have several points at which they could have very successfully ended? this track is something like that...a good ending to the album, that isn't the end. starts as a sleepy bye-bye, but then goes into a short burst of fireworks...and then, back to sleepytime.
    
    
13. the right side?: the real end of the album, and though it's quite long, it's an utterly charming send off.

a big, big recommendation.