OMD* ‎– History Of Modern

An embattled record, History of Modern contains flashes of excellence, but spends a lot of time at war with itself, often seemingly on the verge of self-sabotage. Chief among the culprits are the awkward, indulgent AOR of the first single 'If You Want It' and the wildly embarrassing 'Pulse', whose borderline-disgusting R&B-lite stylings make it undoubtedly the worst thing OMD have ever recorded. The remainder of the album, while not always perfect, is not only miles ahead of these two but also fairly stylistically and lyrically consistent, so it's totally bewildering that they're on at all given History of Modern's more-than-adequate length. So what of the good bits? As a meditation on OMD's present situation, it's actually pretty moving; songs such as 'Sometimes' and 'RFWK' explore the condition of middle-age, both personal and professional, while the two title tracks and 'The Future, The Past, And Forever After' consider the ageing of the New Wave itself. This isn't Adorno, but the album deserves a mention alongside other more fully-formed works of reflection on this subject, such as 'These Are the Days' by The Human League, 'This Used to Be the Future' by the Pet Shop Boys, or the entire Saint Etienne oeuvre. To some extent, the album's flawed nature only makes this particular analysis more compelling; like the second Electronic album, its gauche eccentricities actually serve to illustrate the points made by its more coherent elements. Perhaps the best thing that can be said about History of Modern is that it's an admirable effort. In terms of the reunion and the sometimes condemnatory lyrical matter, this can't have been an easy LP to write or to record. 24 years after the band last worked together in full, it has the lack of focus you might expect from a debut rather than a band's 11th production, but it shows sufficient promise that it isn't wholly a waste of time. Hopefully, now that they've cleared their heads, they'll be able to move on - both from the professional insecurities and from the ghost of their own history. Until these are shaken off, OMD are unlikely to make another truly great album, and their memory deserves better.