Description
Half Speed Mastered Vinyl Edition
Dazzle Ships is the fourth studio album by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released on 4 March 1983. The title and cover art (designed by Peter Saville) allude to a painting by Vorticist artist Edward Wadsworth based on dazzle camouflage, titled Dazzle-ships in Drydock at Liverpool.
Dazzle Ships was the follow-up release to the group’s successful Architecture & Morality (1981). OMD, then at their peak of popularity, opted for a major departure in sound on the record, shunning any commercial obligation to duplicate their previous LP. The album is noted for its experimental content, particularly musique concrète sound collages, and the use of shortwave radio recordings to explore Cold War and Eastern Bloc themes. It spawned two singles: “Genetic Engineering” and “Telegraph”.
Dazzle Ships met with a degree of critical and commercial hostility. Opinion of the record has changed in the years since its release, and it has come to garner critical acclaim and a cult following among music fans. The album has also been cited as an influence by multiple artists.
