Peel Sessions 1979-1983 (RSD 25)

Never before available on vinyl, for the 25th anniversary of its original CD release this is also the complete Peel Sessions issued together for the first time on any format.

Still very much active (their last album – No. 2 in the UK, No. 7 in Germany – was issued in 2023), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), founded by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, emerged from Liverpool in the late ‘70s and are rightly regarded as one of the more original of the so-called ‘synth pop’ outfits of the following decade.

Notably also one of the more successful, they have enjoyed at least 20 hit singles across Europe and beyond, with total sales of around 40 million records to date.

Their early years were highly influential and this release, acclaimed by many fans as the band at the height of their powers, provides a snapshot of OMD at arguably their most vital, focused and interesting; full of highly imaginative, slightly left-field, awkward but accomplished pop, captured by the BBC in four different sessions (one in 1979, two in 1980 and one in 1983).

And while it is the first time that any of these tracks have been pressed on vinyl, it is also the first time that every single track from their sessions for John Peel have been issued together. The original CD version of this collection, issued in 2000, omitted the second recording of ‘Bunker Soldiers’, recorded as part of the 1983 session.

Mastered (where necessary) and cut to lacquer by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, as Aaron Badgley of allmusic.com observed: “Even well-known songs such as ‘Enola Gay’ take on a new life here. Rougher, rawer, and much more experimental. Fans also have the opportunity to hear some tracks from their very much underrated (LP) Dazzle Ships performed live. Those particular tracks are downright eerie …but brilliant nonetheless.”