Customer Reviews

Dazzle Ships

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

OMD's fourth album followed a reasonably successful self-titled debut in 1980, then the escalating successes of the same year's Organisation, and Architecture & Morality in '81, with hit singles by then including `Red Frame/White Light', `Electricity', `Enola Gay', (still one of the all-time greats), `Souvenir' and `Joan Of Arc', but now the lads felt it was time for some experimentation.

Britain and Europe in the early 80's was dominated by Margaret Thatcher and her Cold War politics, and this threatening atmosphere greatly influenced Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys' themes on Dazzle Ships - however, despite the album's quirky mix of futuristic sounds and Iron Curtain radio broadcasts evoking almost pre-electricity sentiments, it wasn't all doom and gloom.

`Genetic Engineering', `Telegraph', `Radio Waves' and `Of All The Things We've Made' all fall well within the synth/pop field, but tracks such as `Time Zones', `This Is Helena' and `ABC Auto-Industry', with found and mechanised vocals, threw the fans completely, as did the title track's evocation of the nightmare world of submarine dread and sonar-blip tension. (Dazzle Ships were a British World War I experiment in artistic camouflage and painted confusion - see Edward Wadsworth's superb `Dazzle Ships In Drydock' at Liverpool' (...)

A couple of the more balladic tracks, such as the dreamy `Romance Of The Telescope', bear vestiges of the late New Romantic era, but ultimately the ballads, the pop numbers, the darker moments, the Eastern Bloc radio programs and the assorted bleeps & mechanical voices all seamlessly combine in one of popular music's finest offerings.

Kim Porter, Forté Magazine, Australia

This is a fantastic album, far better than most others out there, definitely in my top 10 of all time.

But you should know a few things about my perspective on this. First off, I'm a huge OMD fan, mostly because of their early and late electronic stuff, although I still enjoy the 80's pop stuff. Secondly, I hated this album the first time I heard it, but I love it now. But I was coming from the perspective of their pop music at that time years ago, and it was one of the albums that really helped my musical tastes mature from simple pop into far more interesting stuff.

I believe this album is one of those that is an aquired taste, but those usually turn out to be my favorites (to me, Radiohead has been the same way, as well as U2's Zooropa).

Like most of the truely great albums out there, this one has several reoccurring musical and conceptual themes to it (such as samples, WWI ships, technology, etc.), and many of the tracks are in a careful specific order. To me, the opening Radio Prague is a fantastic part of Genetic Engineering, then ABC Radio Industry, etc. The last part of the title track is the perfect way to lead into Romance of the Telescope (the best song on the album and one of OMD's best ever). The whole thing together paints a kind of musical portrait.

The individual songs are all truely amazing, but don't look for them to be simple, standard pop, because they are definitely not (at least to me). The songs that are closest to pop songs have an edgy, experimental, almost over-the-top sound to them (listen to the vocals on Telegraph), all in a good way. Then there's a clear influence of the style of music developed on Archetecture and Morality on some of the tracks. In fact, Romance of the Telescope is a revised version of an A&M b-side, and Of All The Things We've Made appears to be a completely unmodified one. I read some reviews of people not really liking the pure experimental/sample/electronic type tracks, but they may want to give those another try before dismissing them. I find them extremely enjoyable. They're just a different type of music. And they do fit in very well with the rest of the songs. There are also some truely beautiful slow songs on here, such as Romance of the Telescope, International, and Of All the Things We've Made. Faster, more energetic songs are Genetic Engineering, Telegraph, and Radio Waves.

I've heard that the poor sales, criticism, etc., of this album lead them to radically changing their sound on the next one (Junc Culture). Although I do enjoy their later pop stuff, I now believe this era (first 4 albums) was FAR better, so it's really a shame that happened.

The only flaw on this album is that it's too short (35 minutes).

The only OMD album I'd recommend more is Archetecture and Morality. If you like this one, also try the b-sides album because the A&M and DS non-album tracks are some of the best songs they ever did. There's also some really good mixes, live versions, etc. out there of Genetic Engineering and Telegraph (peel sessions of Genetic Engineering in particular is really good).

I give this cd 5 stars because OMD had the courage to engage in experimentalism which make this an early cornerstone of the electronic movement. There is sampling. Long before rip off know nothing's like "Puff Daddy" and his crew of hook stealing 'artists' learned how to use sequencer and a sampler bands like OMD were capturing their own sounds from the surrounding environment and working them into their wel crafted dark blend of electronic synth pop. Where would we be today without such artists? The philosophical and social aspects of these artist's combined works (such as OMD's catalog) still have yet to be fully appreciated by the public at large. That's ok, because the public at large is mostly unaware of their own existence anyway. The rest of us who are in the know can enjoy the unique artistry and experimentation exhibited on this classic CD. A collection of Cold War era samples that seem to rotate around a maritime theme (dazzleships) of coldness and emotional detachment among an increasingly electronic (ABC...) society. The lyrics on the first track read like a corporate report promising a bright new future if you entrust in their technology. The themes put forth in this CD were ahead of their time. In fact, this isn't a mere CD. This is a sonic novel.

If you want your mind to go on a mystic cruise but not due to some street drug, Dazzle Ships very well might be your ticket. Were I a captain of that liner, terrific songs like Telegraph, Genetic Engineering and others all would quickly get staff and crewmember promotions. Although the CD is only 35 minutes(app.) in duration, because of the different sound format the group experimented with this really can't be considered a fault. As a temporary change of pace from Classic Rock (always has been my favorite), prime studio tracks from OMD, A Flock Of Seagulls, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, New Order and other popular electronic bands offer most any listener evidence(s) of terrific musical talent...

The album dates back to the 80's, and is a top class representative of the synth / electronic pop genre of the time. This is probably the most experimental OMD album, and a number of tracks being arrangements of various sampled sounds - for example Radio Prague, ABC Auto Industry, This is Helena, Dazzle Ships, and Radio Waves. Although not too extraordinary, these tracks are enjoyable. The other tracks do stand out though, with Genetic Engineering and Telegraph making it onto their Best Of compilation. The others are subtle and deep with strong lyrics if you get into it. My favourite off the album is International, an anthem about a young girl whose hands had been cut off.

If you do not own any OMD music, then perhaps the "Best Of" compilation is the place to start. If you already own that, then maybe move to "The Pacific Age" or "Crush" next, especially if you're a recent OMD fan. Hardcore fans should find this album stunning and unique - it's definitely a favourite of mine, and I recommend it.

"Dazzle Ships" is certainly not the truly mind-blowing type of album, even for OMD fans, but it remains a still penetrable one, even when OMD's songwriting is stripped at its most and some tapes have struggled in (the short pieces are indeed the funniest). The sound is on the whole digital squeaky clean, but not necessarily that icy, and aiming at making a whole over its pieces gives the album a different kick. What unfortunately makes the album a little flawed is the foreseenability of its longest tracks and the references to already known music -a bass line here, a rhythm pattern there, the "time zones" (ever heard "Pulstar"?)... to be a true masterpiece it wouldn't have needed songs instead of snippets, but some overall polishing.

This was OMD's experiment in electronic music. It has the noticeable maritime theme if you glance at the track selections. This album is strange but in a good way. It's very musical in different ways. It has some very strong songs like the two singles "Genetic Engineering" and "Telegraph" among others like the title track and the best song on the album "International" which is mind blowing when you listen to the lyrics. I don't think a lot of people understood this album and that's a shame cause if you're a true music fan like I am, you'd find it "musically moving".

I disagree with those of you who say this album is crap. For a synth-poppy band to go THIS FAR off the deep end, in the 80s, was brave and adventurous. They merge Kraftwerk-like obsession with Shortwave Radio with their traditional beautiful romantic songs, for a brilliantly jarring combination. It's definitely noisier and grittier than anything other new romantics were recording, but retains an edge into the musique concrete direction..... I loved this album when it was released, and still love it now. I personally think it was the LAST good album OMD released......

Even though I was initially dissapointed with Dazzle Ships, it is what it is. It's still Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Genetic Engineering, Telegraph, International, Radio Waves, and of course All the things We've Made are all memorable. Yes, there's a couple of tracks with nothing but radio beeps and boops and the sound of machinery, but hats off to OMD for trying an experimental album, it's the last of their early years...and who wouldn't like the trumpet fanfare of Radio Prague?

It's not the sounds that are disjointed, incongruent and senseless, it's the world. On Dazzle Ships, dismayed idealists struggle to make sense of it all - or at least bring it to the forefront of the listening mind. Predating U2's equally dystopic, less reckless and more profitable Zooropa by a decade, it is as relevant today as it was in 1983.

The Dazzle Ships montage, a carefully composed collection of bangs, echoes, beeps and voices, dares to explore the chilling question: What does impending death sound like?

The multilingual automated speaking clocks on Time Zones relentlessly count down to . . . something.

As in life, moments of order, and even beauty, punctuate the album, such as in Genetic Engineering, Telegraph and Romance of the Telescope.

As a soundtrack to world disorder, the album met with commercial disaster. Still, Dazzle Ships remains among the most maligned albums ever to get it right.