William Orbit – Orbit

In this humble writer's opinion, easily the weakest, least satisfying & poppiest of Orbit's solo albums. He was obviously attempting to crack a more mainstream market at the time, perhaps due to the earlier (and far better) Torch Song albums swimming below most people's radar. Guitars, vocals, and new wave pop textures and songs abound, and although Orbit's way of synths & programming is still in mighty evidence, many of the tracks just sound a bit uninspired & geared more towards Top 10 chart placement than anything particularly noteworthy. That being said, I've been a huge admirer & collector of Orbit's work since the TS days—just prefer his more edgy & experimental Strange Cargo releases and TS's Wish Thing to this, his first 'solo'. Decent, but not essential.

Full Disclosure - I am a massive fan - I came to Williams work very very early via early Torch Song Material. Prepare to Energise was a dance floor hit in my local clubs, cooler back room. I had the debut album at the time but the 12" I danced to at the club eluded me because it had been deleted before I got turned on to it and found out who the track was by etc. Frustratingly it appeared on the Tom Hanks Movie 'Batchelor Party' but not the soundtrack! Maybe it was the hard to find aspect that made me scour the racks of record stores all over the land never to come up trumps. Anyway I learned that the band name was Torch Song and when I found their album I was made up. Still no 12" version but beggars can not be choosers. Anyway after following the band and their 2nd album (1986's Ecstacy - yes indeed of its time) I heard that the band had split up some time later and William was working on solo material so I picked up both Orbit and the more experimental Strange Cargo CD's on release in 1987. Not 100% sure on the separate monikers or why but I love this album more than the first strange cargo album - but its a close run thing. what was astounding to me was how big and varied the sound was. Given the album credits I concluded that Mr Orbit was a bonafide musical genius and being at that time I was taking my first music making steps beyond my DJ'ing it was and still serves as a benchmark of what one can achieve in ones own modest studio. Recorded and mixed entirely at Guerilla studios, Little Venice London just blew me away. In hindsight the album shows the span of Williams ear as yes it has some tracks that carry on the Torch Song dance legacy but its the range of tracks here and the sonic variety that stands out. Amazing solo 'debut' and if you listen to this and then the Strange Cargo series it stacks up now as an amazing body of work that is still ongoing. Standout tracks for me are Heartbreak Highway and Swamp Dog - Essential Album for anyone interested in the career of someone NOW behind so many epic albums, remixes and productions.