The Pacific Age

The Pacific Age is the seventh studio album by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released on 29 September 1986 by Virgin Records. It was the last of two OMD studio albums produced by Stephen Hague, after Crush (1985). The record exhibits the same refined production values as its predecessor while venturing into the realm of mid-1980s sophisti-pop, retreating further from the group's experimental beginnings.

The Pacific Age
Studio album by
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Released29 September 1986 (1986-09-29)
Recorded1985–1986
Studio
Genre
Length40:18
Label
ProducerStephen Hague
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology
Crush
(1985)		 The Pacific Age
(1986)		 The Best of OMD
(1988)
Singles from The Pacific Age
  1. "(Forever) Live and Die"
    Released: 26 August 1986
  2. "We Love You"
    Released: 10 November 1986
  3. "Shame"
    Released: 13 April 1987

Working under increasing record label pressure and weathering a creative drought, the band committed each new song to the album with limited deliberation. The Pacific Age met with a largely negative reaction from British critics, but has received acclaim in a number of North American publications. It was a Top 20 entry in the UK, Canada and New Zealand, as well as in multiple European countries. Lead single "(Forever) Live and Die" became the group's second Top 20 hit in the US.

Recording sessions for The Pacific Age were fraught with conflict and debauchery. It would be the last OMD studio album for five years, and the last to feature co-founder Paul Humphreys until 2010's History of Modern. The record has been dismissed by the band, with frontman Andy McCluskey calling it OMD's "musical nadir".

Background

Despite the gruelling recording and promotion schedule for predecessor Crush (1985), OMD's American label, A&M Records, wanted a new studio album as soon as possible in order to capitalise on the success of 1986 hit single "If You Leave" (from the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink).[4] Afforded only two months to write a record, the band continued their focus on breaking the US market with more accessible pop material, while restricting the experimental tendencies of their earlier work.[5][6][7] The group again collaborated with producer Stephen Hague, albeit with the addition of his engineer, Tom Lord-Alge.[4] This ensemble worked out of Studio de la Grande Armée in Paris, building upon the band's earlier recordings at Liverpool's Amazon Studios.[4][8]

OMD committed each new song to The Pacific Age with limited deliberation, while relying on some recent compositions for other projects.[8][9] "We Love You" had been written for the film Playing for Keeps (1986). "Goddess of Love" was the group's original contribution to Pretty in Pink, but a rewrite of the film's climax rendered the track unsuitable (hence the creation of "If You Leave"). The band reworked the song for inclusion on the album, including rewriting the lyric.[8] One older track, "Southern" (which sampled Martin Luther King Jr.'s final speech in 1968), was included after failing to make the cut for Crush. Despite A&M's wishes, the group neglected to include "If You Leave" on the record.[4]

"Flame of Hope" uses Japanese TV commercial samples left over from the making of the Crush title track. "The Pacific Age" itself was based on the rising prominence of East Asia in world economics.[8] The songs "Cajun Moon" and "Cut Me Down" were almost featured, but according to McCluskey, "democracy won out".[4] Both songs were later included on the band's 40th anniversary retrospective box set, Souvenir (2019), which carries a CD of unreleased tracks. 1983 holdover "Heaven Is" was nudged off The Pacific Age in favour of "Flame of Hope",[4] but the track eventually surfaced on 1993's Liberator. Humphreys recalled trying to compose satisfactory material amid a creative drought, saying, "It felt incredibly rushed... we'd run out of ideas; there were no songs left in the well." Sessions were marred by exhaustion, internal conflicts, and excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol.[6]

For the first time, brothers Graham and Neil Weir were formally credited as members of OMD;[10] "Shame" was born out of Graham's desire to add a "soulful" element to the album.[4] The Weirs had been involved with the band as session musicians since the re-recording of "Julia's Song" in 1984 (a "Talking Loud and Clear" single B-side), and were credited as "also playing" musicians on Crush.[11] The Pacific Age features various session players, including guitarist Kamil Rustam and backing vocalist Carole Fredericks.[4]

The group intended to release "Stay (The Black Rose and the Universal Wheel)" as the first single, but Virgin pushed for "Shame" instead; "(Forever) Live and Die" was ultimately the first release. "We Love You" was issued as the second single. Virgin then scheduled "Shame" as the next single to the surprise of the band, who were on tour at the time.[8]

Artwork

OMD intended to hire Peter Saville as the cover artist, given his contributions to many of the band's earlier artworks. However, Saville's later successes in designing covers for major acts like Peter Gabriel, the Rolling Stones and Wham!, had pushed his asking price beyond OMD's budget.[4] Graphic designer Mick Haggerty had recently returned from Mexico, where he had created various woodblock prints for a publishing company. He was enlisted to apply the same techniques to the Pacific Age cover, whose design was hand-chiselled from a piece of wood. To enhance the notion of a hand-made texture, the artwork was printed on the reverse of the sleeve so that the coarse, unvarnished side was facing outward.[12]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
The Brandon SunC+[14]
Mercury & Herald7/10[15]
MusicHound[16]
Number One[17]
Record Mirror[18]
Smash Hits3/10[2]
Times Colonist[19]
Winnipeg Free Press[1]
Winnipeg Sun[20]

The Pacific Age met with a largely negative reaction from British critics.[4] Robin Smith of Record Mirror wrote, "The Pacific Age is a very flatulent album. It's difficult to digest and burps into life only occasionally. The most palatable songs, like '(Forever) Live and Die' and 'Shame', are surrounded by others that move with the grace of Tina Turner trying to dance in a pair of lead-filled wellies."[18] Smash Hits journalist Nick Kelly observed only "a couple of subversive melodies" among a "morass of passionless synth-rock ditties" and "characterless elevator 'musak'."[2] Melody Maker described the record as "wheezing, crumpled and limp" and "a bitter, bitter disappointment".[4] Paul Simper of Number One was more favourable, allowing that "the music – if not fire incarnate – has at least a warm glow".[17]

There were some positive reviews in North America. The Province's Tom Harrison wrote, "The Pacific Age has many more shades and detours than the comparatively simple and lovely '(Forever) Live and Die'. OMD's best record in some time."[21] Ron Fell of the Gavin Report noted "literate, digitally brilliant, pop/progressive music which is both challenging and accessible", adding that the band's "ability to harness the electricity of modern studio technology prevents them from being collared by same."[22] The San Francisco Examiner's Tom Lanham identified the album as OMD's most cohesive since Architecture & Morality (1981), observing an "almost magical" rapport between McCluskey and Humphreys. He added, "Each track contains a palatable pop hook cleverly woven into its memorable framework. Potential hits abound."[23] Glen Gore-Smith of the Winnipeg Free Press wrote that The Pacific Age finds OMD "in fine form... adding low-tech elements to its sound, while maintaining the exquisite precision of its ethereal synthpop style."[1]

Other American reviewers were less flattering. Los Angeles Times critic Steve Pond deemed the record to be "bloated" with "unnecessary pomp", and suggested that OMD find "a middle ground between what it used to be and what it's become".[24] Michael T. Lyttle of the Austin American-Statesman called the album "confusing and disappointing", adding that "[Stephen] Hague's labor on The Pacific Age can't bail out sub-par material. Look for no miracles here."[25] In a retrospective article for AllMusic, a more forgiving Dave Connolly wrote, "It's true that tracks like '(Forever) Live and Die', 'Shame', and 'Goddess of Love' are more style than substance, but it's a style that plays to OMD's mastery of melody and mood... The band also continues to string snippets of sound together to create interesting patterns."[13] Billy Manes of Orlando Weekly labelled the record an "underrated opus".[26]

Legacy

The Gavin Report placed The Pacific Age at no. 90 in its "Alternative Top 100" of 1986.[27] StarPhoenix critic Terry Craig listed the album as one of the 10 best of the year;[28] in May 1987, the Los Angeles Times called it one of the five best digitally-recorded CD albums on the market, praising its "dazzling brightness".[29] Slicing Up Eyeballs readers later voted the record the 46th-greatest of 1986,[30] while Diffuser.fm staff ranked it the 38th-best alternative album of the year.[31] It was placed at no. 672 in CMJ's "Top 1000, 1979–1989".[32] Author Anna Smaill cited The Pacific Age – in particular the track "The Dead Girls" – as an influence on her 2015 novel, The Chimes.[33]

Morale issues that arose during the onerous recording and promotion of predecessor Crush (1985),[6][34] intensified during the making of The Pacific Age. Creative conflicts also came to the fore. These issues preceded a line-up split in the late 1980s; co-founder Humphreys would not appear on another OMD studio album until the group's post-reunion release, History of Modern (2010).[5][6][9]

Band response

McCluskey discussed the album in the 2014 book, Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s:

"The Pacific Age is our musical nadir. That was the one where we were writing songs because we had to make an album. We were going round and round America in buses for months on end, and the record company said, 'It would be great if we had a new album for Christmas'. We were on the treadmill. We were going back to an empty well. We were exactly the sort of band we promised we never would be. There were no concepts, no weird ideas, no 'Enola Gay'... I was dragging out lyrics that I would have been appalled by 10 years earlier. And yet Americans love The Pacific Age. It was almost like we traded our European success for American success."[5]

McCluskey feels that the record's production "just doesn't sound like [OMD]", and has noted that it features tracks he wishes the band had never released.[9][34] Humphreys stated, "There were a couple of nice things on it, but to us, overall, it didn't work." He pointed to "surrounding circumstances, the time factor and conflicts that were going on".[35]

In 2023, McCluskey told NME that he cannot listen to 'Stay'.[36]

Track listing
  • All songs by OMD, as per label.
  • Writing credits below as per ASCAP database.[37]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Stay (The Black Rose and the Universal Wheel)"
4:22
2."(Forever) Live and Die"
  • Humphreys
  • Graham Weir
  • Neil Weir
3:38
3."The Pacific Age"
  • Humphreys
  • McCluskey
3:59
4."The Dead Girls"
  • Humphreys
  • McCluskey
4:48
5."Shame"
  • Humphreys
  • McCluskey
  • Weir
  • Weir
4:15
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Southern"
  • Humphreys
  • McCluskey
  • Weir
  • Weir
3:41
7."Flame of Hope"
  • Humphreys
  • McCluskey
2:40
8."Goddess of Love"
  • Humphreys
  • McCluskey
4:30
9."We Love You"
4:10
10."Watch Us Fall"
  • Humphreys
  • McCluskey
  • Hague
4:11
Total length:40:18

Personnel

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD)

Additional musicians

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for The Pacific Age
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[48] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[49] Silver 60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Gore-Smith, Glen (18 October 1986). "OMD sounds more funky on new Pacific Age album". Winnipeg Free Press. p. 25.
  2. Kelly, Nick (24 September 1986). "Albums". Smash Hits. Vol. 8, no. 20. p. 50.
  3. Niasseri, Sassan (2 November 2019). "OMD im Porträt: Zurück nach Orléans". Rolling Stone (in German). Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  4. Waller, Johnny; Humphreys, Mike. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Messages. Sidgwick & Jackson. 1987. ISBN 0-283-99234-4. pp. 164–173.
  5. Majewski, Lori; Bernstein, Jonathan (15 May 2014). "Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s". PopMatters. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  6. Wilson, Lois (30 September 2019). "OMD". Record Collector. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  7. Righi, Len (15 November 1986). "Records". The Morning Call. p. A71.
  8. "The Pacific Age". OMD. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  9. Gourlay, Dom (25 April 2012). "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Interview". Contactmusic. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  10. The Pacific Age sleeve notes. 1986. Virgin Records.
  11. Crush sleeve notes. 1985. Virgin Records.
  12. "OMD Discography: The Pacific Age". Messages. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  13. Connolly, Dave. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: The Pacific Age". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  14. Bell, Kevin (29 October 1986). "For the Record". The Brandon Sun. p. 73 (Entertainment, p. 21).
  15. Shevlin, John (2 October 1986). "OMD: The Pacific Age". Mercury & Herald. p. 2 (of On Record).
  16. Graff, Gary (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. p. 504. ISBN 9780787610371.
  17. Simper, Paul (4 October 1986). "Albums". Number One. p. 44.
  18. Smith, Robin (11 October 1986). "Albums". Record Mirror. p. 22.
  19. Bennett, Paul (7 February 1987). "On Track". Times Colonist (main ed.). p. 38 (C4).
  20. Potter, Mitch (12 October 1986). "Manoeuvres on the Move!". Winnipeg Sun. p. 26.
  21. Harrison, Tom (21 December 1986). "Rock". The Province. p. 72.
  22. Fell, Ron (3 October 1986). "Personal Picks — Albums". Gavin Report. No. 1626. p. 57.
  23. Lanham, Tom (30 November 1986). "Britain's OMD Caught Between Two Worlds". San Francisco Examiner. p. 250 (Datebook, p. 42).
  24. Pond, Steve (2 November 1986). "Pop Music". Los Angeles Times. p. 331 (Calendar, p. 59).
  25. Lyttle, Michael T (2 November 1986). "Orchestral Manoeuvres' 'Pacific Age' Disappointing". Austin American-Statesman. p. 213 (Show World, p. 7).
  26. Manes, Billy (14 September 2011). "The history of modern men". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  27. "Alternative Top 100". Gavin Report. No. 1636. 12 December 1986. p. 36.
  28. Craig, Terry (31 December 1986). "Favorites of 1986". The StarPhoenix. p. 21 (Entertainment, p. C1).
  29. Atkinson, Terry (22 May 1987). "Home Tech". Los Angeles Times. p. 133 (Calendar, p. 19).
  30. "Top 100 Albums of 1986: Slicing Up Eyeballs' Best of the '80s — Part 7". Slicing Up Eyeballs. 3 September 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  31. DeRiso, Nick (28 July 2016). "1986's Best Alternative Albums". Diffuser.fm. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  32. "Top 1000, 1979–1989 (supplement)". Top 250 Singles, 1979–1989. CMJ. 1989 – via Coffee for Two.
  33. Lowe, Helen (27 May 2015). "An Interview with Anna Smaill, Author of The Chimes". HelenLowe.info. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  34. "OMD interview - Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys (part 3)". FaceCulture. 29 April 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2016 – via YouTube.
  35. Marsh, Phil (1994). "Talking with the Listening Pool". Telegraph. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  36. https://www.nme.com/features/music-interviews/omd-andy-mccluskey-orchestral-manouevres-in-the-dark-3498101
  37. "ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)". Retrieved 3 May 2015. searchable database (search Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark/OMD/O.M.D.
  38. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 224. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  39. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0755". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  40. "Dutchcharts.nl – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Pacific Age" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  41. "European Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 3, no. 43. 1 November 1986. p. 31. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  42. "Offiziellecharts.de – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Pacific Age" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  43. "Charts.nz – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Pacific Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  44. "Swisscharts.com – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Pacific Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  45. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  46. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  47. "Top 100 Albums of '86". RPM. Vol. 45, no. 14. 27 December 1986. p. 9. ISSN 0315-5994 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  48. "Canadian album certifications – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – The Pacific Age". Music Canada. 27 May 1987. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  49. "British album certifications – OMD – The Pacific Age". British Phonographic Industry. 27 October 1986. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
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