Customer Reviews

Junk Culture

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A very different perspective than the reviews i've read here is that Junk Culture is OMD's peak! This release very successfully blends the 'art' with the 'pop'. The previous release, Dazzle Ships, doesn't have hooks to demand the listener play the album over and over, while the next release, Crush, is contaminated by the peppering of crassly calculated careerist "hit singles" (souless Stephen Hague produced and banished all quirk factor, except Andy McCluskey's distinctive(!) voice) that unapologetically marked OMD's short wade into mainstream impotency. In my mind, Junk Culture is their final chapter, w/ a few of the more interesting tracks from Crush as an addendum. DISCLAIMER of ADOLESCENT SUBJECTIVITY: this lp took over my turntable in 1985 when i was developmentally in "teenage sponge mode". Still, objectively speaking, it is the culmination of their intelligent quirky art-pop aesthetic. Beautiful arranging/production, and Peter Saville design, too!

After the disappointing sales of OMD's 'Dazzle Ships,' they returned with the quirky 'Junk Culture.' There are a few scintillating moments here that hark back to old OMD, but quite a few silly tracks as well. 'Tesla Girls' and 'Locomotion' are two of the band's best singles, the first crashing pop, the second tinged with carribean flavor. 'Apollo' and 'White Trash' are the only stand-outs here, both with unusual arrangements and those 'only-from-OMD' weird effects. The rest of the tracks would be great from anybody else, but just music to clean house to from OMD. Still... try to get the chorus of 'Talking Loud & Clear' out of your head.

As another reviewer noted, this album marks OMD's departure from the more synthy/new-wavy/electronic sounds they embraced on earlier releases, especially Dazzle Ships.

Although Junk Culture doesn't fully embrace the pop culture as the follow up album, Crush, did, there was still a notable pop influence on this release. I don't say that as a bad thing, either. Good pop is still good music. It's just a shame that there's so much *bad* pop, but I digress.

Junk Culture took a little bit of time to sink in with me. I admit it. I love Crush. I suppose part of that is sentimental, as it was my girlfriend of the time (and wife now, so many years later) that exposed me to OMD via Crush. I had always liked Organisation and their other, older albums. Once I fell for Crush, though, I think the beauty of Junk Culture was finally exposed to me.

The great thing about Junk Culture is exactly its merging of the quirkiness of OMD's earlier material with the more pop-oriented melodies of the time. Those two elements came together in Junk Culture to create a genuinely unique work. You just can't go wrong with the eccentric Tesla Girls, the emotion of Love and Violence or the Latin flair of All Wrapped Up.

Any fan of the '80s owes it to themselves to own this album. It may not be my favorite OMD album, but it does a great job of displaying both sides of the OMD coin. It has also stood the test of time, in my opinion sounding as brilliant today as it did 20+ years ago.

Synthesizers got cheap in the late '70s. Go do something interesting with them. You don't have to show off like Maestro Rick Wakemen. You don't have to create ponderous Space Rock like Tangerine Dream. You can make a record like nobody's ever heard before. That's what OMD did on "Junk Culture." Processed horn sections, electronically filtered vocals, quirky percussive efects all never sounded so magnificent....and to think this was just a light pop music record. Critics? What did they know? They were too busy drooling over Van Halen's latest back then. OMD was not music for rock music critics; a primitive life form that could not possibly grasp an electroacoustic journey like "Junk Culture"!

After buying this I fell in love with OMD and the album spent a lot of time on my turntable(dating myself). I never cared for instrumentals and always skip them so I ignored the title track, but the rest of the album was great. The songs have aged pretty well and my favorites are ones most people ignore. "Love & Violence", and "Hard Day" are brilliant. "Love & Violence" captures the behavior of a couple going through difficulties in their relationship with chilling accuracy and "Hard Day", does the same for the working class. This is a great CD and is enjoyable on many levels.

OK - I agree - more pop then their interesting and melodic earlier synth-tech albums - but I was into OMD since their first album (yes album) and when I bought this one, I wore it out. It may just be me, but the songs on this album are more accessible and really stick in your head. If you are not familiar with OMD, but an 80's fan, I highly recommend.

There are a few songs on here that most people will definately know right away if you're already familiar with OMD. Locomotion, Tesla Girls and Talking Loud and Clear are all available on the OMD singles collection. As with all OMD, there are a few lesser known gems on this album as well. Songs like Hard Day, White Trash, and my favorite song, Never Turn Away. Although I don't like this album nearly to the extent that I like Organisation, Architecture or their self titled debut, this is far better than Dazzle Ships. OMD never went through a time where I disliked all of their music, but there are definately alums that are superior. This one falls kind of in the middle. It seems like they abandoned their more introspective and thought provoking music in favor of poppier and more radio friendly sounds. Not that this is all bad, OMD were successful at everything they attempted.

This album may not have the emotion or melancholia that Pacific Age or Crush had but it still has great melodies mixed with catchy beats. "Tesla Girls", "Talking Loud And Clear" and "Locomotion" are the hits from this album, but the real gems are "Never Turn Away" and "Love And Violence". "Never Turn Away" is beautiful and erotic and sounds like no other ballad around. "Love and Violence" has blasts of brass mixed with playful vocals. "Hard Day" has the emotions of a blues song, but is written in a major key ala Enola Gay. "All Wrapped Up" makes you want to take a vacation to Jamaica with its island feel. This is a solid album, not spectacular, but solid.

Not as melodic as there other albums. More experimental but still has some unbelievable songs. I suggest omd singles it has all the goodies on it.