Sugar Tax (album)

Sugar Tax is the eighth album by English band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released in May 1991 by Virgin Records. It was the group's first studio album since 1986, and the first of three recorded without co-founder Paul Humphreys, who had departed in 1989. Featuring singer Andy McCluskey with a new backing band, it leans more towards the dance-pop genre that was prevalent in the early 1990s, than the experimental brand of synth-pop which characterised OMD's earlier recordings.

Sugar Tax
Studio album by
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Released7 May 1991 (1991-05-07)
Recorded1989–1990
Studio
  • The Pink Museum, Liverpool
  • The Strongroom, London
  • The Townhouse, London
  • Amazon, Liverpool
Genre
Length51:17
LabelVirgin
Producer
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology
The Best of OMD
(1988)		 Sugar Tax
(1991)		 Liberator
(1993)
Singles from Sugar Tax
  1. "Sailing on the Seven Seas"
    Released: 18 March 1991
  2. "Pandora's Box"
    Released: 24 June 1991
  3. "Then You Turn Away"
    Released: 2 September 1991
  4. "Call My Name"
    Released: 18 November 1991

The album charted at No. 3 in the UK Albums Chart and spawned two UK top-10 singles: "Sailing on the Seven Seas" and "Pandora's Box". It had sold over three million copies by 2007.[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
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Encyclopedia of Eighties Music[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB[4]
Q[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
St. Petersburg Times[7]

Richard Riccio described 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."[7] Gina Arnold in Entertainment Weekly wrote: "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] Q magazine called Sugar Tax "an unflappable album of quality songs which re-establishes OMD's credentials as masters of synthesized melancholia and dreamy pop songs."[5]

Retrospectively, 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".[2] Trouser Press found the record to be "simply ordinary and mediocre, a disappointment from a once-captivating band".[8] PopMatters journalist Michael Keefe was more favourable, calling Sugar Tax the "last good OMD album" prior to their 1996 disbandment.[9]

Track listing

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 tracks are written by OMD (i.e. Andy McCluskey), except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sailing on the Seven Seas"OMD, Stuart Kershaw3:45
2."Pandora's Box" 4:09
3."Then You Turn Away"OMD, Kershaw, Lloyd Massett4:17
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, Massett4:49
10."Walk Tall"OMD, Kershaw, Massett3:55
11."Neon Lights" (reworking of Kraftwerk track from The Man-Machine)Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos4:19
12."All That Glitters"OMD, Kershaw, Massett4:06

Personnel

OMD:


  • Recorded and Performed by: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, except "Neon Lights" by OMD, Christine Mellor
  • Produced by: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, except Howard Gray (4), Andy Richards (7,9,12)
  • Mixed by: Jeremy Allom, Avril Mackintosh, Alan Meyerson, Steve Williams
  • Engineered by: Jeremy Allom, Phil Coxon, Fred De Faye, Guy Forrester, Mike Haas, Renny Hill, Pat O'Shaughnessy, Steve Williams
  • Guitar by: Stuart Boyle
  • Additional Vocals by: Carmen Daye, Doreen Edwards, Sue Forshaw, Ann Heston, Stuart Kershaw, Nathalie Loates, Christine Mellor, Beverly Reppion
  • Management: Steve Jensen, Martin Kirkup
  • Sleeve designed by: Area
  • Photographed by: Trevor Key
  • Many thanks to: Stuart, Lloyd, Hambi and all the Pink Posse

Equipment

Recording:[10]

Live:

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[22] Platinum 500,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Platinum 300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Orchestral leap in the dark". The Scotsman. 3 February 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  2. Raggett, Ned. "Sugar Tax – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  3. Larkin, Colin (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music. Virgin Books. p. 350. ISBN 0753501597.
  4. Arnold, Gina (14 June 1991). "Sugar Tax". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  5. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Sugar Tax". Q. No. 57. June 1991.
  6. Evans, Paul (2004). "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 607. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. Riccio, Richard. "Sugar is sprinkled with gems". St. Petersburg Times. 23 August 1991. p.21.
  8. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Sugar Tax". Trouser Press. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  9. Keefe, Michael (6 July 2008). "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More". PopMatters. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  10. "Power in the Darkness". Music Technology. December 1991.
  11. 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.
  12. "Austriancharts.at – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – Sugar Tax" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  13. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1569". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  14. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8 no. 36. 7 September 1991. p. 27. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  15. "Offiziellecharts.de – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – Sugar Tax" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  16. "Swedishcharts.com – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – Sugar Tax". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  17. "Swisscharts.com – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – Sugar Tax". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  18. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  19. "European Top 100 Albums – 1991" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8 no. 51/52. 21 December 1991. p. 24. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  20. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1991" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  21. "1991 Top 100 Albums". Music Week. London. 11 January 1992. p. 21. ISSN 0265-1548.
  22. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (OMD; 'Sugar Tax')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  23. "British album certifications – OMD – Sugar Tax". British Phonographic Industry. 1 September 1992. Retrieved 26 December 2020.


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