In many ways Sugar Tax represents a return to OMD's roots: majestic melancholy songs, shimmering choral arrangements and an abundance of electronic acrobatics. Sailing The Seven seas is replete with blues piano, heavy drums, those trademark choirs and a seductive and hypnotic chant.
Apollo XI harks back to Dazzle Ships days (remember Radio Prague?), being made up of samples from the first moon landing set to a decidedly dynamic dance beat. The voices of presidents Nixon and Kennedy are used as effectively as those of Kennedy and Pope John Paul II on Psychic TV's "Papal Breakdance" from 1986.
Sweeping strings soothe on Walking On Air and All That Glitters, while the title track sports a harder edged lyric (about emotional blackmail), but the real beauty is Was It Something I Said, a song of initially muted power reaching a crescendo of invective that sweeps the listener along to its powerful climax. This is a strong album of great songs.
Architecture & Morality
The OMD Singles
July 8, 2007Yes that's right it is a masterpiece, and anyone who says something different does not like OMD or this type of music. Andy is the reason OMD is so great. I saw the concert for this album and it was even better live. If you like this type of music then buy it you will not be disappointed, but you will not stop listening to it. Look for a new CD from all of the original members OMD by the end of this year!!!
February 25, 2007 |  | GREAT ASTOUNDING RECORDING |  |
I must leave my mark and say THIS RECORD IS A MODERN POP MASTERPIECE. I love OMD but never knew this whole recording. As another reviewer put it - the consistancy is amazing. This is a F*cking Great Record - anyone from any walk of life will enjoy the music. This is timeless. Kind of freaks me out how good it is. ADD TO CART NOW FOOL!
June 3, 2006| | | My favorite album since Organisation | |
OMD's first three albums were spectacular, and the last three were also pretty amazing. The stuff in between from Junk Culture to the Pacific Age is hit or miss with me. The Pacific Age was the ultimate low point of OMD, in my opinion, with almost no depth or charisma, and almost no salvageable material. When Sugar Tax was released, it renewed my almost lost faith in one of my favorite bands of all time. Yes it was a new direction alltogether, and some not accepting of the changes may have been turned away. Maybe some people just couldn't stomach the idea of OMD doing dance music, but this is not only one of OMD's best albums ever, but also some of the best dance music that was made at the time. Too bad it went unnoticed. The only track on this album that I don't particularily care for is Apollo XI--it's kind of a dumb filler instrumental song. The cover of Kraftwerk's Neon Lights is very cool--interesting song to cover. My favorite tracks are Pandora's Box, Call My Name, Speed of Light, Was It Something I Said--hell, the rest of the album is excellent. Fans of the Pet Shop Boys and Erasure will definately like this. This is one of my all time favorite albums that I own, and one of OMD's most easily listenable.
February 1, 2006 | | The Old Stuff Is So Much Better | |
OMD made so much great music it is sad to see them create such boring fluff. The Kraftwerk cover is the best song by far. They should have stuck together as a duo and continued to produce music from where they left off.
January 23, 2006More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(21 reviews)