OMD

OMD — a tidy abbreviation for the apropos group name Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — got its start with a simple four-track single, the tense, synth-tingling "Electricity." Appropriately enough, it came out on Factory Records, the one-time home of Joy Division and New Order, a connection that shouldn't be lost as you explore the biggest singles of their major-label years, including the airy, sparkly Pretty In Pink standout "If You Leave"; the stylized, high note-hitting pop tune "So In Love"; and "Enola Gay," an early Top 10 breakthrough in the U.K. that's as peerless as it is straight-up poppy.

Which is exactly how OMD's career played out — as a constant battle between its commercial and critical sides. Not to mention its actual members, as evidenced by the key lineup changes in our Next Steps.

When three-fourths of OMD's core lineup quit to form the Listening Pool in the late '80s, the group's frontman/primary songwriter (Andy McCluskey) recruited a new backing band and plunged right into a new record, the well-received Sugar Tax ("Pandora's Box," for one, was a major hit). He didn't stop there, either — the McCluskey-led Liberator album is actually the closest OMD came to a real club-grounded collection, from the classic, B-boy-ready break beats of "Christine" to the sugar-rush synths of "Dollar Girl" and "Heaven Is."

Confused yet? Wait until you hear our Deep Cuts, some of which have been linked to Radiohead's more experimental work.

The pop sheen beaming off of such OMD tracks as "Red Frame/White Light" and the Velvet Underground cover "Sunday Morning" is so blinding it sometimes obscures the left-field brilliance of Dazzle Ships. A bold piece of Cold War paranoia and frayed electronics, it includes such career highlights as the chirping keys of "Telegraph," the disembodied post-punk of "Radio Waves," the tweaked strings and stuttering radio-host samples of "This Is Helena," and the chilling "Fitter, Happier"-like (yes, the Radiohead interlude) opening segment of "Genetic Engineering." No wonder why some critics have called it the "Kid A of its time."

When OMD's best-known lineup re-formed to play a string of shows in 2007, the band began each evening with a rearranged run-through of their classic Architecture & Morality album. To this day, it's the clearest example of the quartet's greatest strengths, from the wistful vocals and soft, pillowing keyboard progressions of "Souvenir" to the drone tones and punchy beats that cut into "Maid of Orleans." Of course, the band also touched upon its entire catalog, a towering collection of synth-pop that proves just how important the group is to the history of new wave and Liverpool-based music in general. While hit singles like "If You Leave," "Enola Gay," and "So In Love" never quite hit the same commercial heights as the city's other Fab Four,' they did establish OMD as one of the era's oft-overlooked stars.