There's no doubt that this record is a concerted effort to recapture the authentic OMD sound and return them to the electronic music fold. Or as Paul Humphreys described it, "Get rid of all the organic stuff."
The Kraftwerk-esque "Metroland" is simply superb and instantly provides evidence that Paul was more closely involved in the creative process this time around. The Kraftwerk influence continues as they decide to resurrect the Electric Music track "Kissing the Machine" that Andy co-wrote with Karl Bartos some twenty years before. Whilst this version is a good effort, I can't really see why they chose to include it. The fact that there are four new songs included on the CD single of "Night Café" suggests there was more than enough material lying around, so maybe they just liked the song so much they felt compelled to include it.
"Dresden" lays bare the pain Andy faced in his personal life and it sounds like "Stay With Me" was Paul's opportunity to do the same. Both are good songs with strong melodic components and their contrasting styles make for welcome variety. Once again we see a historically important woman used as a metaphor on "Helen of Troy" and "Our System" is yet more Kling-Klang infused goodness.
Another feature of this record is the inclusion of short instrumental pieces. Whilst the tracks themselves are pleasing, I'm not a fan of leaving little bits and pieces dotted around an album. But then OMD have never really been about conforming and following the crowd, so this sort of thing comes with the territory. Whilst I used to think this album was a little light on content, I now see it is actually rather concise and doesn't outstay its welcome. For me, the move to electronic music was most welcome and this is a really good album as a result. 4/5
