Architecture and Morality

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's eponymous debut and its follow-up, Organisation, were pioneering synth-pop albums, however it wasn't until 1981's Architecture and Morality that they made their best and most influential work. Andy Mccluskey and Paul Humphreys integrate their electronics gracefully into the format of the pop song, and Malcolm Cooper's live drums do much to keep the album from sounding too machine-made. The album's centerpiece is the two-part Joan of Arc / Maid of Orleans' Suite, OMD's most memorable, as well as prettiest, achievement at that point. The single Souvenir is nearly the equal of those two songs, and the eight-minute atmospheric exploration Sealand shows the duo's experimental bent remains strong.