Disco de Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: “Navigation: The OMD B-Sides”

The liner notes state that this compilation was due, in part, to fans requesting a b-sides compilation and choosing what b-sides were to be selected. Excellent move! Now, if only more bands and record companies would cater to the buying public! OMD have always been on of my favorite new wave/electronic bands that should have amounted to much more than they have. Few synth bands were as original, creative and yet catchy as OMD were. This b-sides compilation showcases the band's strengths--experimentation, great melodies and beautiful synth sounds. It also shows some of their weaknesses like creating lifeless and mundane tracks such as "(The Angels Keep Turning) The Wheels Of The Universe)" and "Sugar Tax". But these are few. Mostly, "Navigation" is littered with great thrown away tracks like "Almost", a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Waiting For The Man", "Annex", "Sacred Heart", "Her Body In My Soul", "Garden City", "This Town" and "Burning". The only comparison I can think of to "Navigation" is the Pet Shop Boys' two disc b-side compilation "Alternative". Perhaps "Navigation" could have been two discs, and a complete collection of b-sides? All of these things aside, I wish music would go back to what is on this disc. The good old days. For OMD fans, this is a nice bookend.

"Navigation" is an odd, obscure little C.D. with a cover that looks like a Trapper Keeper and 73 minutes of extremely mesmerizing abstract atmospheric electronic music with sparse vocals. In the first two weeks I had it it only left my C.D. player to go in my portable C.D. player or to my friends' house (so I could play it for them...except their C.D. player was broken). For a while I had to practically force myself to turn it off to watch my shows or let my family sleep.

It consists of B-sides from various formats of the singles of "Messages," "Red Frame, White Light," "Enola Gay," "Souvenir," "Joan of Arc," "Maid of Orleans," "Genetic Engineering," "Telegraph," "Tesla Girls," "So in Love," "La Femme Accident," "Forever Live and Die," "Dreaming," "Sailing on the Seven Seas," and "Then You Turn Away," two different B-sides from "Locomotion," a one-sided 7" bonus record from the original limited edition version of "Junk Culture," and the original version of "Almost" recorded at Henry's Studio in Liverpool, which had never been released in any form prior to "Navigation," and also isn't one of the bonus tracks on the expanded edition of the self-titled album. It's arranged partly chronologically, but the track sequence seems to have been adjusted to allow it to flow like an album, which it does well. It's actually hard to believe this wasn't conceived as an album, since it doesn't sound at all like a collection, much less one spanning over a decade. I'd call it O.M.D.'s second or third best album.

It contains an alternate recording of "Almost" and an alternate mix of "The Romance of the Telescope," which breathe new life into those songs (even though these were actually recorded before the versions released on the albums). I can only guess why these were kept in the vault while millions were treated to less colorful alternate versions.

Eighteen of the nineteen songs were written by Paul Humphreys and/or Andy McCluskey. The other is a highly unconventional cover of the Velvet Underground's "Waiting for the Man" (famously covered by David Bowie).

It's pretty much impossible to classify "Navigation" as any genre. "Downtempo techno" is the best label I can think of. If the Cure ever collaborated with Brian Eno they might have recorded an album like this. Having O.M.D.'s albums and hit collections did very little to prepare me for this. Only a couple songs are instrumental, but most of the vocal songs are mixed and structured like instrumentals. It's hard to describe; you'd have to listen to it to understand what I mean. There's also lots of musique concrète.

Now the caveats. "66 and Fading" is 6:33 on the 12" single of "Telegraph," slightly edited to 6:26 on the 7", and drastically edited to 2:25 here. This doesn't seem to make much sense, since the whole song could fit on this C.D. and still leave space open. You can buy the full 6:33 version, as well as "4-Neu," on the expanded edition of "Dazzle Ships." Similarly, "Concrete Hands" is presented here as the 3:48 7" version, while the 4:14 12" version has never seen C.D. release. "I Betray My Friends" and "Waiting for the Man" are both on the expanded edition of the self-titled album. This version of "Annex" on this release is also on the expanded edition of "Organisation," while a 1980 live version is available on "The Peel Sessions." The version of "The Romance of the Telescope" on this release is the same as the one on both expanded editions of "Architecture and Morality" (the one with the D.V.D. and the one without the D.V.D.), but is different from the version on "Dazzle Ships" (it's also of note that a 2007 live version of "The Romance of the Telescope" is on the C.D. and D.V.D. of "Architecture and Morality and More"). "Sacred Heart" and "Navigation" are also on those expanded releases.

Also, "Navigation" excludes the B-sides "Taking Sides Again," "Of All the Things We've Made," "Wrappup," "Maria Gallante," "Drift," "Satellite," "Big Town," "Area," "Vox Humana," "Can I Believe You?" "Strange Sensations," "The Place You Fear the Most," "Every Time," "Mathew Street," "The New Dark Age," the version of "Almost" that was actually a B-side, and all the live, rerecorded, and remixed B-sides.

But despite these minor imperfections (or perceived imperfections) I just can't recommend this album enough. I just wish I hadn't waited seven years to buy it!