Messages: OMD Greatest Hits

It has got some good songs on the cd and worth the money .the other cd is worth watching seeing the band singing

Of course being an original OMD fan Ive got the previous two "best of" collections, which were slightly different, but to all intense purposes did what they said on the box. However the beauty of this compilation is the accompanying DVD of an impressive amount of promos for songs; an amazing 31, yes 31 videos, phew. Not only do they cover the hit singles, there are some rarer gems such as hold you, which wasnt a single, but made as part of Crush the movie, album concept short film.The production quality of some of the earlier videos is almost homemade, my favourite being at the end of messages, as the camera moves away from andy, and you can see the exhaust fumes of the vehicle on which the camera was mounted, fantastic, and Paul must be mortified every time he watches himself running toward the balloon at the end of the Locomotion promo, cringe worthy... but thats the charm, OMD were never style icons, and were always uncomfortable in the glare of publicity, this of course made it harder to compete at a time of the Dandy New Romantic movement, so didnt stand out but cut a furrow of bank clerk style of their own.I recommend this compilation to anyone that has even a passing interest in OMD's music, as it encompasses in sound and vision a unique and unlikely group, who only thought their career as OMD would last for the one gig at Eric's for which they branded themselves with such a lengthy, pompous name. OMD are geniuses of pop, as is shown here, they are also much more musically, their experimental penchant can be explored on the first 4 albums.. this represents OMD's pop legacy, and a reminder of their place in the collective 80's conscience..

Having heard OMD on the radio and in other places I often thought I would like one of their CD's, but I never gotaround to it. Now I am retired I spend a bit of time in the car driving to see the grand children etc. One day we werelistening and a fan of OMD was waxing lyrical about them and the dj (Graham Norton) couldn't get him off the line as hewent on and on. When he finally got round to playing the song (he was a perfect gent with the fan) I really enjoyed it andthought I like it ; maybe I should indulge. And I did !. After reading revues and listening to MP3 snippets this is what I bought,and I wasn't disappointed. Great vocals and backing music, songs you recognise as soon as you hear the intro, this CD hasgot the lot. First time fan, or old fan ( I suppose I'm both ) this is well worth the money. Great service from the supplier.

OMG.. I mean D! These formative years of the band were superb, great catchy pop tunes, and Andy's hair, a stalwart of the 80's.. and 90's.. and betond, it's seems, never a change in the wiry-haired one's coffeur. The hair style never changed, but the music did- unfortunately for the duo- where dos the hits go? They lost their way, I'm afraid, then the fallouts between Andy & Paul, it wasn't to last. Not even when they reformed and retoured! Alas, the band were never to resume their previous success. And the extra DVD? I didn't want it, only the music CD but unfortunately it was tagged on as a 'bonus' disc. Oh dear, I remembered some of these music vids from the 80's- no, no, no! Every one a cringe- worthy cliche-embarrassing and painful to watch. I had never seen the video for 'Talking Loud & Clear' until I received this disc but read on the sleeve notes that 'Andy & Paul are dressed as scarecrows in a remake of 'The Wizard of Oz'' wow, I thought, that sounds like a huge production, placing the said disc on quickly out of curiosity. Let's see this massive production- oh. Dear. No! Please God no! The video starts with, as advertised, Andy & Paul dressed as scarecrows in a field- (😲) then it pans out to a sickly-sweet scene with Andy & Paul with their sweethearts having a picnic in front of the straw men- the only comparison to The Oz film is a little girl appearing(Dorothy?) who stuffs a bit of straw into Andys chest area, is that a reminder to us all of the scarecrow's missing brain? Or was it a heart I wondered? Oh, really, it is too much. By this time, I had a cushion over my face, wondering why the boys had sold out to some Director who clearly didn't have a clue what he was doing- he certainly didn't touch Oz- but he/she should be deported there immediately. The other videos were rubbish too, supposed 'live' situations in leaky warehouses and some dodgy 80's 'special (needs) effects'. I'm sorry, much as I love the boys and their music, they are just not photogenic- they really are a band made for the radio- to be heard and not seen- especially Andy's aforementioned 'pubic hair- style'. He is an abomination on the eye,a very ugly man. I've seen OMD live a couple of times-supporting Kraftwerk in the early 90's and on the Sugar Tax tour, they were good, very entertaining but please , Andy, stop doing your God-awful and terrible jiving dance! It's not becoming, mate. I do love the band though, but only for the early music.

OMD are a classic 80s duo and 'Messages' is a great compilation of their greatest hits. A must have for fans of all things 80s.

Amazon asked me if this item/purchase met with my expectations. Actually, it surpassed them - especially at this price!! There is however one little niggle I have: the tracks on the accompanying CD - which, incidentally, are a very sharply defined transfer that sound, to my ears, at any rate, better than the 1988 CD compilation of "The Best Of" hits - are nowhere numbered on the insert, or the disc itself; a nuisance in that one has to count down through the list of titles to play or programme a particular track!Apart from that minor oversight, however, it IS top marks all round! (Incidentally, the discs come in a double-CD jewel case, rather than, as one might expect, a regular DVD case.)

I don't normally review items I buy online but I have been moved to do so by this OMD compilation which I happily recommend to both OMD fans and casual listeners alike. As well as the audio CD, with all the well known hits, it comes with a DVD which I have been happily watching which brings back many happy memories.I first saw OMD live in 1986 and I'm going to see them again soon on their current tour almost 34 years later - cant wait :)