Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (debut album) turns 44 on today.
On 22 February 1980, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released their self-titled debut studio album featuring singles “Electricity" “Red Frame/White Light" and “Messages".
Joseph Burnett of The Quietus identified Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark as "one of the key early British synth-based pop/rock albums"; PopMatters critic Max Shand wrote that its "synthesizer bleeps disclos[ed] the way electronic music could avoid traditional song structures while still generating something buoyant." In addition to contemporary reviewers naming the record as one of the finest of 1980, Slicing Up Eyeballs readers voted it the 27th-best of the year. KCMP listeners placed Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at no. 291 in the "893 Essential Debut Albums", while Classic Pop positioned the record at no. 26 in their "Top 40 80s debut albums".