Sugar Tax (album)
| Sugar Tax | ||||
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| File:Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Sugar Tax album cover.jpg | ||||
| Studio album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | ||||
| Released | 7 May 1991 | |||
| Recorded | 1989–1990 at: The Pink Museum, Liverpool The Strongroom, London The Townhouse, London Amazon Studios, Liverpool |
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| Genre | Dance-pop, synthpop | |||
| Length | 51:17 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Howard Gray Andy Richards |
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| Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Sugar Tax | ||||
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Sugar Tax is the eighth album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released in 1991 on Virgin Records. It was group's first studio album since 1986, and the first of three recorded without co-founder Paul Humphreys, who had departed in 1989. Essentially a solo venture for singer Andy McCluskey under the OMD moniker, it leans more towards the dance-pop genre that was prevalent in the early 1990s, than the experimental brand of synthpop which characterised the band's earlier recordings.
The album received modestly favourable reviews but was a resounding hit with the public, continuing the commercial renaissance initiated by 1988's The Best of OMD. It charted at No. 3 in the UK – the group's first Top 10 entry for a studio album since 1984's Junk Culture – and spawned two UK Top 10 hit singles: "Sailing on the Seven Seas" and "Pandora's Box". By early 2007, the record had sold over three million copies.[1]
Sugar Tax is the only album in the OMD catalogue not to feature the songwriting contribution of Paul Humphreys.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Colin Larkin | [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B)[4] |
| Q | [5] |
| St. Petersburg Times | (favourable)[6] |
Critical reaction to the album tended towards the positive. Richard Riccio was thoroughly impressed, describing the record as being "sprinkled with gems" in his review for the St. Petersburg Times. He added: "Sugar Tax is classic OMD, and after a four-year absence marks a triumphant return for one of new wave's original invaders."[6] Gina Arnold in Entertainment Weekly was also favourable, writing: "OMD have never been afraid of combining naked emotion with their cold techno-mechanics, and it's this emotion — exhibited in lead singer Andy McClusky's [sic] sobbing, soaring vocals – that redeems their take on the otherwise fairly vacant dance-pop genre."[4] A review in Q magazine lauded Sugar Tax as "an unflappable album of quality songs which re-establishes OMD's credentials as masters of synthesized melancholia and dreamy pop songs."[5]
Conversely, Ned Raggett in AllMusic described the album as "pleasant instead of memorable", and felt that it suffered due to the absence of McCluskey's former bandmates. Raggett did, however, have praise for "Sailing on the Seven Seas", and selected "Call My Name" as a highlight.[2]
Track listing
Notably, the album does not include the title track Sugar Tax, as it was not ready in time for release. It was instead included as the B-side to the single Then You Turn Away.
All songs written and composed by OMD (i.e. Andy McCluskey), except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sailing on the Seven Seas" | OMD, Stuart Kershaw | 3:45 |
| 2. | "Pandora's Box" | 4:09 | |
| 3. | "Then You Turn Away" | OMD, Kershaw, Lloyd Massett | 4:17 |
| 4. | "Speed of Light" | 4:29 | |
| 5. | "Was It Something I Said" | 4:29 | |
| 6. | "Big Town" | 4:19 | |
| 7. | "Call My Name" | 4:23 | |
| 8. | "Apollo XI" (instrumental, contains sample from JFK "Landing a man on the moon" speech and Apollo 11-related radio transmissions) | 4:13 | |
| 9. | "Walking on Air" | OMD, Kershaw, Massett | 4:49 |
| 10. | "Walk Tall" | OMD, Kershaw, Massett | 3:55 |
| 11. | "Neon Lights" (reworking of Kraftwerk track from The Man-Machine) | Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos | 4:19 |
| 12. | "All That Glitters" | OMD, Kershaw, Massett | 4:06 |
Album singles
| Release date | Single | United Kingdom | United States Dance |
United States Modern Rock |
Ireland |
France |
Austria |
Sweden |
Switzerland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 March 1991 | "Sailing on the Seven Seas" | 3[7] | 9[8] | — | 5[9] | — | 3[10] | 3[10] | — |
| 24 June 1991 | "Pandora's Box" | 7[7] | 11[8] | 19[8] | 19[9] | 49[11] | 7[11] | 7[11] | — |
| 9 September 1991 | "Then You Turn Away" | 50[7] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 18 November 1991 | "Call My Name" | 50[7] | — | — | — | — | 24[12] | — | 28[12] |
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Larkin, Colin. The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music. Virgin Books. 1997. ISBN 0753501597. p. 350.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Riccio, Richard. "Sugar is sprinkled with gems". St. Petersburg Times. 23 August 1991. p.21.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
