The Best of OMD

Compilation album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Released

12 March 1988

Recorded

1979–1988

OMD
Mike Howlett
Richard Manwaring
Rhett Davies
Brian Tench
Stephen Hague
Tom Lord Alge

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology

The Pacific Age
(1986)

The Best of OMD
(1988)

Sugar Tax
(1991)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Robert Christgau	B+^[2]

The Best of OMD is a compilation album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released in 1988.

The record essentially delineates the group's experimental early years from their pop-oriented later work: side one features recordings from 1979–1984, while side two is drawn from the group's 1984–1988 efforts. It was a worldwide success, becoming a Top 5 hit across Europe and achieving 3x platinum sales in the United Kingdom. "Dreaming" was released as a single and made little impact on the UK charts, reaching no. 50, but it was a hit in the US (no. 16), Germany (no. 26) and South Africa (no. 2).

All 14 tracks from the original vinyl and cassette version of The Best of OMD were included on the 2008 compilation release Messages: Greatest Hits.

Album information

The version of "Electricity" used is the same as the one featured on their debut album (which itself is the band reworking Martin Hannett's original Factory version). The band was originally going to use their very first version of this song, but found the drumming to be inferior and so settled for the remix of the track instead. "Messages" is the more popular 10" single version. "Tesla Girls" and "Talking Loud and Clear" are both 7" edited versions. The Australian version of the album featured "We Love You" since that song had been a popular hit there. The CD, MiniDisc and DCC versions of the album are resequenced and feature four extra tracks not present on the LP version: "Telegraph" (a unique mix differing from the album version), "Genetic Engineering", and 12" versions of "La Femme Accident" and "We Love You". There was also a video compilation released with the promo videos of some of the songs featured on the album.

It was the group's final album release of the decade, effectively closing a chapter on their history, and just before founding members Andy McCluskey and and Paul Humphreys split in 1989, leaving the group name to McCluskey. According to Andy McCluskey, OMD made the album in order to pay off debts owned to Virgin Records.^[3]

Track listing

All songs written by OMD, except "Locomotion" written by OMD and Gordian Troeller. "So in Love" written by OMD and Stephen Hague.

Vinyl LP and Music Cassette

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Album	Length
1.	"Electricity"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	3:30
2.	"Messages"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	4:44
3.	"Enola Gay"	McCluskey	Organisation	3:31
4.	"Souvenir"	Humphreys, Cooper	Architecture & Morality	3:34
5.	"Joan of Arc"	McCluskey	Architecture & Morality	3:47
6.	"Maid of Orleans"	McCluskey	Architecture & Morality	4:09
7.	"Talking Loud and Clear"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper	Junk Culture	3:53

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Album	Length
1.	"Tesla Girls"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Junk Culture	3:33
2.	"Locomotion"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Gordian Troeller	Junk Culture	3:53
3.	"So in Love"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Stephen Hague	Crush	3:28
4.	"Secret"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Crush	3:56
5.	"If You Leave"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper	Pretty in Pink	4:28
6.	"(Forever) Live and Die"	Humphreys, Weir, Weir	The Pacific Age	3:34
7.	"Dreaming"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Previously unreleased	3:54

Compact Disc, MiniDisc and Digital Compact Cassette

Track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Album	Length
1.	"Electricity"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	3:30
2.	"Messages"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	4:44
3.	"Enola Gay"	McCluskey	Organisation	3:31
4.	"Souvenir"	Humphreys, Cooper	Architecture & Morality	3:34
5.	"Joan of Arc"	McCluskey	Architecture & Morality	3:47
6.	"Maid of Orleans"	McCluskey	Architecture & Morality	4:09
7.	"Telegraph"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Dazzle Ships	3:43
8.	"Tesla Girls"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Junk Culture	3:33
9.	"Locomotion"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Troeller	Junk Culture	3:53
10.	"Talking Loud and Clear"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper	Junk Culture	3:53
11.	"So in Love"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Hague	Crush	3:28
12.	"Secret"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Crush	3:56
13.	"If You Leave"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper	Pretty in Pink	4:28
14.	"(Forever) Live and Die"	Humphreys, Weir, Weir	The Pacific Age	3:34
15.	"Dreaming"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Previously unreleased	3:54
16.	"Genetic Engineering"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Dazzle Ships	3:35
17.	"We Love You" (12" Version)	Humphreys, McCluskey, Hague	The Pacific Age	6:14
18.	"La Femme Accident" (12" Version)	Humphreys, McCluskey	Crush	6:16

VHS Video

Track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Electricity"
2.	"Messages"
3.	"Enola Gay"
4.	"Souvenir"
5.	"Maid of Orleans"
6.	"Talking Loud and Clear"
7.	"Tesla Girls"
8.	"Locomotion"
9.	"So in Love"
10.	"Secret"
11.	"If You Leave"
12.	"(Forever) Live and Die"
13.	"Dreaming"
14.	"Telegraph"
15.	"We Love You"
16.	"La Femme Accident"

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label	Cat.no.
UK	1988	LP	Virgin	OMD1
		Musicassette		TCOMD1
		Compact Disc		CD OMD1
		MiniDisc		MD OMD1
		DCC		458604
		VHS		VVD247

Credits

"Electricity" and "Dreaming" are produced by OMD.
"Messages", "Enola Gay" and "Souvenir" are produced by OMD and Mike Howlett.
"Joan of Arc" and "Maid of Orleans" are produced by OMD and Richard Manwaring.
"Telegraph" and "Genetic Engineering" are produced by OMD and Rhett Davies.
"Tesla Girls", "Locomotion" and "Talking Loud and Clear" are produced by OMD and Brian Tench.
"So in Love", "Secret", "(Forever) Live and Die", "We Love You" and "La Femme Accident" are produced by Stephen Hague.
"If You Leave" is produced by OMD and Tom Lord Alge.

Notes

↑ AllMusic review
↑ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
↑ "OMD interview - Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys (part 3)". FaceCulture. April 29, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2016.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Andy McCluskey Paul Humphreys Malcolm Holmes Martin Cooper Dave Hughes Michael Douglas Graham Weir Neil Weir Phil Coxon Nigel Ipinson Abe Juckes Stuart Kershaw

Studio albums	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Organisation Architecture & Morality Dazzle Ships Junk Culture Crush The Pacific Age Sugar Tax Liberator Universal History of Modern English Electric

Compilation albums	The Best of OMD The OMD Singles The OMD Remixes Navigation: The OMD B-Sides Messages: Greatest Hits

Live albums	Peel Sessions 1979–1983 OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More

Singles and EPs	"Electricity" "Red Frame/White Light" "Messages" "Enola Gay" "Souvenir" "Joan of Arc" "Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)" "Genetic Engineering" "Telegraph" "Locomotion" "Talking Loud and Clear" "Tesla Girls" "Never Turn Away" "So in Love" "Secret" "La Femme Accident" "If You Leave" "(Forever) Live and Die" "We Love You" "Shame" "Dreaming" "Brides of Frankenstein" "Sailing on the Seven Seas" "Pandora's Box" "Then You Turn Away" "Call My Name" "Stand Above Me" "Dream of Me (Based on Love's Theme)" "Everyday" "Walking on the Milky Way" "Universal" "If You Want It" "Sister Marie Says" "History of Modern (Part I)"

Videography	The Best of OMD OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More Messages: Greatest Hits Electricity: OMD with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Related articles	Discography The Id Dalek I Love You The Listening Pool Onetwo Atomic Kitten

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