I bought my first copy in 2014 and it contained a flyer for the OMD fan club. I smiled at the antiquated looking application form and its request for payment by cheque or postal order and promptly threw it in the bin. Or at least I think I put in the bin, but equally I could have simply lost it. I don't really recall.
Either way, the flyer was nowhere to be found when I realised its presence made an original pressing of the LP more desirable. I searched eBay for months for a listing that contained the flyer, but there were none to be found. I wasn't fussy about the condition of the replacement LP as I could just take out the piece of paper and give the vinyl away to a charity shop (something I did in order to get the merchandise flyer for Jean Michel Jarre's "The Concerts in China") but there was literally nothing being listed on eBay. Eventually I gave in and bought a copy from an online store for slightly more than I wanted to pay. So now I have two copies of this LP, but only one contains a flyer. You never know, someday I might find the other one.
As with almost all OMD albums "Architecture and Morality" is somewhat juxtaposed to its predecessor. Where "Organisation" was dark and brooding, this album allows chinks of light to fall in the darkness. You still get the feeling Paul and Andy created these cracking pop songs as a by-product of their experiments in sound, but the success of tracks like "Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)", "Joan of Arc" and "Souvenir" meant this album sold very well and has become regarded as one of the seminal moments in eighties synth-pop. In fact the singles taken from this album were so influential that they were released as a box set to mark the albums 40th anniversary rather than the parent album itself.
"She's Leaving" is a great 'single that never was' and "Georgia" is a perky bop that would take pride of place on many a lesser artists record. On the artistic and more experiential side, opening track "The New Stone Age" was meant to shock an audience looking for synthpop and the title track strongly points to the bewildering sound collages that were to come on future albums. A classic. 4/5
