Dazzle Ships (album)

'' (1919), the source of the album's name. In the year following the release of commercially successful predecessor Architecture & Morality (1981), co-founder and keyboardist Paul Humphreys had married, and he and singer Andy McCluskey were growing apart. The pair had never expected the success they had achieved, and elected to retire OMD, having purchased their first cars and homes in Wirral. McCluskey said, "After two solid years of work... we had written our final epitaph – ["Maid of Orleans" B-side] "Of All the Things We've Made" – and didn't think we'd ever work together again. And all of a sudden, we were quite rich." – felt a debt to their fanbase, and began discussing new musical ideas. OMD were daunted by the pressure of matching the success of their previous release, and early sessions were not fruitful. Seeking refuge in their radio experiments of old, Humphreys and McCluskey came up with the sound collages "Dazzle Ships" and "Radio Prague". At the band's Gramophone Suite studio in Liverpool, they reshuffled their inventory of instruments, introducing the E-mu Emulator. was remixed and the "unfinished" caveat removed. Instrumentalists Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes grew dejected by the largely unproductive recording sessions, with Holmes stating, "This was the first time that OMD had reached a major stumbling block." As such, they used shortwave radio recordings to explore Cold War and Eastern Bloc themes, while oscillating between moody pop music and experimental, musique concrète soundscapes. "Radio Prague" features the interval signal of the Czechoslovak Radio foreign service, including the time signal and station identification spoken in Czech. "Time Zones" is a montage of various speaking clocks from around the world. Neither "Radio Prague" nor "Time Zones" carry a writing credit, with OMD being credited only for arranging the tracks. "This Is Helena", "ABC Auto-Industry" and "International" also include parts of broadcasts recorded off the air (a presenter introducing herself, an economic bulletin, and news, respectively). "ABC Auto-Industry" attempts to recreate "the monotony of production line car manufacture". For a time the group sought inspiration in a new studio, Phil Manzanera's White House (latter Gallery Studios) in Chertsey, and hired producer Rhett Davies. McCluskey said, "We intimidated [Davies] in the end. The songs were simply not up his street. They weren't conducive to being handled with slick touches and it ended up with arguments." To maintain the band's image of being signed to an indie label, Dazzle Ships purported to have been issued by the fictitious "Telegraph" label. ==Commercial performance==

Dazzle Ships peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart (remaining in the top 20 for six weeks), and also reached the top-10 in New Zealand and Spain. The record achieved global sales of 300,000 copies; this figure represented a fraction of the sales of multi-million selling predecessor Architecture & Morality (1981). Dazzle Ships was therefore considered a failure. McCluskey recalled, "The painful joke at Virgin was that it shipped gold and returned platinum." ==Critical reception==

Initial reviews of Dazzle Ships were largely negative, with NME and other outlets making unfavourable comparisons to the work of OMD heroes Kraftwerk. A scathing Mark Moses in The Boston Phoenix rechristened the album "Guzzle Shit by Offensive Manure in the Park". Record Mirrors Jim Reid observed a "nightmarish" album "replete with the worst kind of futuristic nonsense", There were sporadic appeals for listener perseverance: Paul Colbert of Melody Maker portrayed the album as "a challenge and a reward", while Smash Hits reviewer Johnny Black argued that "the songs are waiting to be found and are as melodic, passionate and vital as ever." During the 2000s it was endorsed by Mojo as a "buried treasure" and an "ignored masterwork", while Ned Raggett of AllMusic wrote that the "dazzling" record "beats Kraftwerk at their own game, science and the future turned into surprisingly warm, evocative songs." Trouser Press remained unconvinced, describing the album as "impressive but not satisfying". The magazine noted "some amazing sounds and a powerful atmosphere", but felt that "found-tape gimmickry" had taken precedence over songwriting. Dazzle Ships met with critical praise upon its initial re-release in 2008. Tom Ewing of Pitchfork wrote, "Luckily, you don't need a contrarian streak to love it... history has done its own remix job on Dazzle Ships, and the result is a richer, more unified album than anyone in 1983 could have imagined." In a 2023 review, Martin Gray of Louder Than War observed "innovative synth pop that isn't afraid to break rules and invent new ones", adding that Dazzle Ships had "finally earned its belated and much-deserved due as a minor unsung masterpiece". ==Legacy==

. Critics have acknowledged Dazzle Ships as an underrated and misunderstood work, and a record ahead of its time. John Bergstrom of PopMatters argued that while positive reappraisals of flop albums had become "all-too-common", the "prescient" Dazzle Ships lived up to the retrospective acclaim. Dazzle Ships has nevertheless appeared in lists of 1983's best albums; The A.V. Club named it one of the year's "Great but Underappreciated Records". It was included in that same publication's "Hall of Fame", the 1980s edition of Uncuts "Ultimate Record Collection", and music journalist Paul Roland's "Ten Essential CDs" of the decade. The album maintained cult status in the years following its release, Dazzle Ships has influenced many recording artists. Classic Pop critic John Earls noted how the "wildly uncommercial" album emerged from obscurity to be cited by the chart acts Arcade Fire, the Killers and Radiohead; Saint Etienne and Future Islands identified Dazzle Ships as the template for their respective albums, Foxbase Alpha (1991) and In Evening Air (2010). Singer Anohni spoke of being "really changed" by the "scary, futuristic" record, while musician Telekinesis cited the "genius" album as his personal favourite and a major influence. Dazzle Ships also impacted the record producers Mark Ronson and Moby, the former saying, "I was just completely floored... It's just so elegant but a bit lo-fi at the same time." The indie groups Another Sunny Day and Eggs released cover versions of "Genetic Engineering" (as 1989 and 1994 singles, respectively), with the latter's artwork being inspired by Dazzle Ships inner sleeve; journalist Stuart Huggett saw both recordings as helpful to the album's "survival". Pallett later said, "There have been certain records in my life that I feel have saved me. Saved my life... records that sound unique or try some new form of human expression. Records like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's Dazzle Ships." Singer-songwriter Anton Barbeau referenced the album with his electronic piece "Slash Zed Zip" (2022), whose title is an anagram of "Dazzle Ships". Rapper and producer Kid Cudi sampled "ABC Auto-Industry" on his track "Simple As..." (2009); Martin Gray of Louder Than War saw Dazzle Ships as foreshadowing the widespread adoption of sampling, including the use of taped speeches and found sounds on subsequent mainstream releases. Liars frontman Angus Andrew and Low singer Alan Sparhawk each listed the record among their favourites, with Andrew describing it as "such a cohesive statement, portraying a bleak and lonely environment of a different sort." He added, "It's such an incredible feat to feature experiments like 'Dazzle Ships, Pts. 1-3' [sic], and have them... enhance an album with more straight forward tracks like 'Telegraph'." Justin Rice of Bishop Allen named Dazzle Ships as a contender for the title of "greatest album ever". The record has received further endorsements from Shearwater frontman Jonathan Meiburg, Amanda "MNDR" Warner, physicist/musician Brian Cox, and novelist/visual artist Douglas Coupland, who called it "amazing" and one of his 12 "must-have" albums. Quietus critic Ian Wade noted that Dazzle Ships has achieved significant popularity among dance artists. ==Band response==

After the release of Dazzle Ships, OMD came to view the record as a creative mis-step. Humphreys lamented that "the good songs on it were lost in the overall presentation aspect." McCluskey assumed much of the responsibility, saying, "When the ideas man ran out of ideas, there was nothing left for the melody man [Humphreys] to work on." Band manager Gordian Troeller expressed regret over not insisting the album be re-recorded. He said, "I didn't fight, Virgin didn't either... I think some of the misgivings Paul felt about the work at the time were too easily overriden by Andy." Upon Dazzle Ships initial re-release in 2008, McCluskey noted its improved critical standing: "The album that almost completely killed our career seems to have become a work of dysfunctional genius... it's taken Paul [Humphreys] 25 years to forgive me for Dazzle Ships. But some people always hold it up as what we were all about, why they thought we were great." Both men have since placed Dazzle Ships in the top three of the band's albums, along with Architecture & Morality (1981) and The Punishment of Luxury (2017). ==Track listing==

• Label copy credits: All songs written and/or arranged by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (except "Radio Waves", by OMD/Floyd). • Writing credits below from ASCAP database. The "Manor Version" of "Telegraph" was recorded at the same time as Architecture & Morality. "Swiss Radio International" was dropped from the album at the last minute. Like "Radio Prague", it contains the call sign for a radio station and was once referred to as "The Ice Cream Song" by drummer Malcolm Holmes due to its similarity to the melodies played by ice cream vans. Another version entitled "Radio Swiss International" appeared on the Unreleased Archive: Vol. 1 disc, included in the Souvenir, 40th anniversary box set issued in 2019. The disc also featured further demos entitled "Violin Piece" "SMPTE" and "Guitar Thrash", all dating back to the 1982/83 recording sessions. A 40th anniversary release of Dazzle Ships, featuring further bonus demos and rarities, was announced on 2 February 2023, and released on 31 March. It was released on CD and on double 12" vinyl, as well as being made available on downloading and streaming platforms. ==Personnel==

• Andy McCluskey – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, synthesizers • Paul Humphreys – keyboards, synthesizers, vocals, percussion • Martin Cooper – keyboards, synthesizers • Malcolm Holmes – drums, percussion ==Production details==

• Recorded at The Gramophone Suite, Gallery Studio and Mayfair Studio • Mixed at The Manor Studio • Engineered by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Rhett Davies, Ian Little, Keith Richard Nixon, Brian Tench • Produced by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Rhett Davies • Mastered at The Master Room by Arun Chakraverty • Designed by M. Garrett, K. Kennedy, P. Pennington, Peter Saville, and Brett Wickens for Peter Saville Associates. ==Instruments==

In terms of instrumentation, Dazzle Ships saw the band begin to explore digital sampling keyboards (the E-mu Emulator) in addition to their continued use of analogue synthesizers and the Mellotron. List of used instruments: • Roland Drumatix Rhythm Unit • Eko Rhythmaker • Korg MS-20 • Roland SH09 • Roland SH2 • E-mu Emulator I • Novatron • Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 • Oberheim OB-X • Solina String Machine • Vox Organ • Toy Piano • Rainbow Organ • Piano • Gretsch Drums • Ludwig Drums • Premier Military Bass Drum • Hammer Bass Block Guitar • Fender Jazz Bass • Speak & Spell Machine • Sanyo Short Wave Radio • Typewriter ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==