Universal (OMD album)
| Universal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | ||||
| Released | 2 September 1996 | |||
| Recorded | Pre-recorded at The Factory, Dublin, JE Sound, and Johnny Juma, Los Angeles Recorded at The Townhouse, and Metropolis, London |
|||
| Genre | Synthpop, Britpop | |||
| Length | 49:40 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer |
Andy McCluskey Matthew Vaughan David Nicholas |
|||
| Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Singles from Universal | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Colin Larkin | |
Universal is the tenth album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released in 1996. It spawned the group's first Top 20 hit in the UK for over five years with the track "Walking on the Milky Way". However, follow-up single "Universal" and the album itself performed poorly and this lack of success prompted singer Andy McCluskey to dissolve the band. It would remain their final album for over a decade until the group's reunion.
OMD co-founder Paul Humphreys, who had departed the group in 1989, served as principal songwriter on "Very Close to Far Away" and "If You're Still in Love with Me". Erstwhile McCluskey collaborator Karl Bartos (formerly of Kraftwerk) co-wrote "The Moon & the Sun".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine in AllMusic remarked: "Universal is a rote collection of synth-pop and dance-pop from OMD, demonstrating only a fraction of the sophisticated craft that made its predecessor Liberator enjoyable, and none of the adventurous spirit of their '80s records."Trouser Press wrote that "the album quickly settles into the type of pop OMD has offered since Crush" and is "enjoyable enough for what it is".
All tracks written by Andy McCluskey, except where noted.
...
Wikipedia