By the time "The Pacific Age" was released in 1986 OMD had left behind any notion of producing art and where firmly a cog in the commercial machine (blame "Dazzle Ships"). For a band that started out with much loftier ambitions, this position was clearly untenable and the break up of the group became an inevitability.
Yet the hits this album does contain are amongst my favourites. The single "(Forever) Live and Die" is one of the very best songs the band has ever made and "We Love You" is pretty accomplished in both production and composition. I have always liked "Shame" and the final song "Watch Us Fall" makes for a perfect ending. The trouble is, everything that surrounds these nuggets is pretty bland stuff.
Opening track "Stay (The Black Horse and The Universal Wheel)" has probably the most pretentious title of any OMD song (and it has some strong competition in this regard) but it sounds like safe, middle of the road nonsense. To my mind OMD had moved so far away from their natural sound that it's a wonder they had any of their old fans left - but then this record was created to win over Mary-Lou in Kansas City and not the people who bought their debut back in 1979.
"Southern" is an instrumental that screams, "I am album filler" and the Fairlight samples on "Flame of Hope" have not aged well at all. "Goddess of Love" was so disposable it was also used as a b-side and "The Dead Girls" is enough to send me to sleep. For a long time this album was the band's valedictory and it felt like they were going out with a whimper. 2/5
