UK reissue of the new wave act's 1984 album. Ten tracks including, 'Tesla Girls' & 'Locomotion'. Album Description
 |  | The songs that stick in your head |  |
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.
October 29, 2008As 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.
March 7, 2006 | | Junk Culture-Loved The Title. It became my first OMD purchase. | |
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.
January 23, 2006There 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.
December 12, 2005A very different perspective than the reviews i've read here is that 'Junk Culture' is OMD's peak! This rls very succissfully blends the 'art' w/ the 'pop'. The previous rls, 'Dazzle Ships', doesn't have hooks to demand the listener play the album over and over, while the next rls, 'Crush', is contaminated by the peppering of crassly calculated careerist "hit singles" (souless Stephen Hague produced and banished all quirk factor, except the singer's distinctive(!) voice) that unapologetically marked OMD's short wade into mainstream impotentcy. 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 artwork too!
December 8, 2005More reviews at Amazon.com ...
