Architecture & Morality

File:Mellotron.jpg.]]

During the initial sessions for Architecture & Morality, OMD were looking for a new musical direction. Frontman Andy McCluskey, a longtime atheist, told how the band "found a lot of influence in the emotional power of religious music".{{cite magazine |last=Nunn |first=Jerry |title=Andy McCluskey |url=https://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/I288025 |magazine=GoPride |date=21 September 2011 |access-date=28 August 2021}}{{cite web |last=Lindores |first=Mark |title=Classic Album: Architecture & Morality |url=https://www.classicpopmag.com/2022/09/classic-album-architecture-morality/ |website=Classic Pop |date=4 September 2022 |access-date=20 January 2023}} McCluskey informed Melody Maker at the time, "I haven't gone and 'got God'... It's just trying to understand why people need religion and believe in it."{{cite book |last1=Waller |first1=Johnny |last2=Humphreys |first2=Mike |title=Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Messages |publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson |year=1987 |pages=90–97 |isbn=0-283-99234-4}} The group spent two months recording at The Manor Studio, Shipton-on-Cherwell, with additional recording completed at the band's own Gramophone Suite in Liverpool. Mixing took place at Mayfair Studios, London. Instrumentalist Martin Cooper left and re-joined the group during the making of the album, missing the bulk of the sessions. During his absence he formed Godot with former OMD session musician David Hughes.

A catalyst in the development of OMD's new sound was Hughes' use of the band's studio to manipulate choral samples he had recorded; the album is noted for making liberal use of those samples, as well as of the Mellotron, a mechanical tape-replay keyboard.{{cite web |last=Browne |first=Paul |title=Architecture & Morality Interview: Andy McCluskey |url=http://www.omd-messages.co.uk/architecture-morality-interview-andy-mccluskey/ |publisher=Messages |date=12 March 2003 |access-date=16 December 2020}} The group introduced other new instruments, including prominent guitars on opening track "The New Stone Age", whose sound was intended to startle the OMD audience. All of these measures combined to produce a more naturalistic, emotive sound than on previous OMD releases.{{cite web |last=Thompson |first=Dave |author-link=Dave Thompson (author) |title=The Beginning and the End – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-beginning-and-the-end-mt0012318465 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=27 May 2021}}

According to the album's credits, its title was suggested to the band by Martha Ladly (formerly of Martha and the Muffins), who had read the 1977 book Morality and Architecture by David Watkin.{{cite web |title=Architecture & Morality |url=http://www.omd.uk.com/discography/architecture-morality/ |url-status=dead |publisher=omd.uk.com |access-date=22 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730110730/http://www.omd.uk.com/discography/architecture-morality/ |archive-date=30 July 2018}} Ladly, who was also a designer, was at the time the girlfriend of Peter Saville, the album's sleeve designer. McCluskey felt the title Architecture & Morality represented the interplay between the human and mechanical aspects of OMD: "We had the 'architecture', which was the technology, the drum machines, the rigid playing, the attempt to break out of the box by playing specifically crafted sounds, and the 'morality', the organic, the human, the emotional touch, which we brought naturally."

"Souvenir" was the first track to be written for the album. "Sealand" was named after the Royal Air Force's Sealand base on the Wirral; it is also a nod to the Neu! song "Seeland".{{cite tweet |author=OMD |user=OfficialOMD |number=1250154556371189761 |title=Track 4 – Sealand |date=14 April 2020 |access-date=4 January 2021}} The sample-heavy title track was compiled in the studio over a three-day period. "The Beginning and the End" was an older composition that the band had previously attempted to record but had shelved due to being unsatisfied with the results. The songs avoided the verse-chorus-verse format, utilising lengthy instrumental passages and substituting choruses with synthesizer lines. Lyrics were largely inspired by historical figures and events, including Joan of Arc, after whom two songs were named. The tenth-through-sixteenth tracks of the remastered edition are bonus tracks and were B-sides from the album's three singles – except for "Gravity Never Failed", which was an out-take from the Architecture & Morality sessions (its original title, "Georgia", was transferred to another song on the record). This track was envisaged as a single, but was not released until it featured as the B-side of "Dreaming" (1988). "Of All the Things We've Made", and a completed version of "The Romance of the Telescope (Unfinished)", would appear on OMD's next album, Dazzle Ships (1983).{{cite web |title=OMD Official Website Discography entry: Dazzle Ships |url=http://www.omd.uk.com/discography/albums/html/a_10.html |url-status=dead |access-date=16 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010418093643/http://www.omd.uk.com/discography/albums/html/a_10.html |archive-date=18 April 2001}}

The cover artwork was produced by Peter Saville and associate Brett Wickens. Inspirations included "art movements like The Circle, and... mid-century iconic furniture like [Le] Corbusier and [Alvar] Aalto".{{cite web |last=Browne |first=Paul |title=Brett Wickens interview |url=https://www.omd-messages.co.uk/brett-wickens-interview/ |website=Messages |date=15 February 2014 |access-date=4 January 2021}}

Architecture & Morality yielded three singles, all of which reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart: "Souvenir" (number three), "Joan of Arc" (number five), and "Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)" (number four), a retitled "Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)". Two singles were also successful in a variety of territories, with "Souvenir" and "Maid of Orleans" each charting at number one in various European countries; the latter became Germany's biggest-selling single of 1982.{{cite news |last=Stanley |first=Bob |author-link=Bob Stanley (musician) |title=How to lose 3 million fans in one easy step |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/mar/07/popandrock1 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=7 March 2008 |access-date=13 June 2013}} "Joan of Arc" was only released in the UK. The three singles sold eight million copies combined.{{cite magazine |last=Male |first=Andrew |title=Days of Future Passed |magazine=Mojo |issue=308 |pages=38–43 |date=July 2019 |quote=With eight million singles and four million albums sold, Architecture & Morality...}}{{cite web |last=Shand |first=Max |title=OMD at 40: Making Sense of a Synthpop Legacy |url=https://www.popmatters.com/omd-at-40-2641155629.html |website=PopMatters |date=8 November 2019 |access-date=16 December 2020}}

Dindisc proposed "She's Leaving" as a fourth single, but the group refused, believing this would over-exploit the album; the label did proceed with a small-scale release in the Benelux region. OMD later regretted their decision, attributing it to being young and pretentious. Classic Pop described "She's Leaving" as "the great OMD single that never was".

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = All Music Guide to Rock

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite book|first1=Vladimir|last1=Bogdanov|author-link1=Vladimir Bogdanov (editor)|first2=Stephen Thomas|last2=Erlewine|author-link2=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|first3=Chris|last3=Woodstra|year=2002|title=All Music Guide to Rock|edition=3rd|publisher=Backbeat Books|pages=826–827|isbn=978-0879306533}}

| rev2 = Daily Record

| rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite news|last=Fulton|first=Rick|title=Singles and albums|newspaper=Daily Record|date=4 May 2007|quote=One of the UK's most influential electro groups and one of the genre's best albums. It may have been released originally in 1981 but still sounds as fresh today.}}

| rev3 = LA Weekly

| rev3score = A{{cite news|title=Records|newspaper=LA Weekly|date=25–31 December 1981|volume=4|number=4|page=16}}

| rev4 = The Philadelphia Inquirer

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|title=Pop/Rock – Albums|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=5 February 1982|page=98}}

| rev5 = Pitchfork

| rev5score = 8.7/10{{cite web|last=Plagenhoef|first=Scott|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11793-orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-darkorganisationarchitecture-morality/|title=Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark / Organisation / Architecture & Morality|website=Pitchfork|date=18 July 2003|access-date=4 November 2009}}

| rev6 = Q

| rev6score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Eddy|first=Todd|title=The Synthesists (supplement)|magazine=Q|issue=202|date=May 2003|issn=0955-4955|quote=OMD's 1981 masterwork [...] perfectly balanced the avant garde with top-flight songwriting, pooling those [Kraftwerk and Brian Eno] influences together for an unforgettable set that few in the genre have come close to matching.}}

| rev7 = Record Collector

| rev7score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Doran|first=John|url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/architecture-morality|title=Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Architecture & Morality|magazine=Record Collector|issue=337|date=June 2007|access-date=20 June 2013}}

| rev8 = Record Mirror

| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Soave|first=Daniela|title=OMD: Architects of the Future|magazine=Record Mirror|date=7 November 1981|page=19}}

| rev9 = Smash Hits

| rev9score = 9/10{{cite magazine|last=Cranna|first=Ian|title=Albums|magazine=Smash Hits|volume=3|number=22|date=29 October – 11 November 1981|page=25}}

| rev10 = Sounds

| rev10score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|last=McCullough|first=Dave|title=Hopeless Heroes|magazine=Sounds|date=21 November 1981}}

}}

Architecture & Morality met with a lukewarm critical response.{{cite web|last=O'Neal|first=Sean|url=https://www.avclub.com/bauhaus-run-dmc-cocteau-twins-and-other-should-ve-be-1822298731|title=Bauhaus, Run-DMC, Cocteau Twins, and other should've-been hits from 1983|website=The A.V. Club|date=5 February 2018|access-date=24 April 2022}}{{cite magazine|last=O'Brien|first=Steve|date=November–December 2022|title=Classic Pop Moments: OMD Release Architecture & Morality|magazine=Classic Pop|issue=78|page=98|quote=Architecture & Morality received lukewarm reviews on its release.}} Lynden Barber of Melody Maker wrote: "I don't believe the Orchs even care about this record... the style is the same, the content profoundly different, the onslaught of emptiness, frivolity disguised by furrowed brows, a new brand of meaninglessness."{{cite book|last=West|first=Mike|title=Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=1982|isbn=0-7119-0149X|page=28}} Boston Phoenix journalist M. Howell said the record "gives off the dry stench of self-importance" and would have been more aptly titled "Mortician & Morality".{{cite news|first=M|last=Howell|title=Synthesizing Pop|work=The Boston Phoenix|date=16 February 1982|page=6 (of section three)}} David Fricke of Rolling Stone observed an "awkward mix of dreamy romanticism and spatial, Pink Floyd-ian abstractions", concluding that "too much sincerity and not enough spunk... make for attractive but dull fare."{{cite magazine|last=Fricke|first=David|date=13 May 1982|title=Speak & Spell|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/speak-spell-102112/|url-status=unfit|magazine=Rolling Stone|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731021530/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/speak-spell-102112/|archive-date=31 July 2018|access-date=22 February 2023}} Record Mirror{{'}}s Daniela Soave cautioned that the album "requires more effort on the listener's part", adding, "Although I had misgivings initially, Architecture & Morality is no disappointment."

Other critics were unapologetically favourable. Dave McCullough of Sounds gave a five-star review in which he referred to Architecture & Morality as OMD's "best album yet" and a "classic in the making", while the Belfast Telegraph{{'}}s Jim Cusack called it an "excellent album" by a band with "higher interests and concepts in music than most others of their genre."{{cite news |last=Cusack |first=Jim |title=Rock |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph |date=23 January 1982}} Ian Cranna of Smash Hits noted "varied and imaginative arrangements" that enhance the group's "wonderful melodies and intelligent lyrics", summarising the record as OMD's "most impressive achievement to date". Architecture & Morality was included in Billboard{{'}}s "Recommended LPs".{{cite magazine|date=30 January 1982|title=Top Album Picks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ECUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA74|magazine=Billboard|page=74|access-date=20 July 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719222047/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ECUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA74|archive-date=19 July 2022}}

"We didn't think it got the respect it deserved", said McCluskey in 1983. "We put a lot into it and we really loved it... anything which undermines our own unstable balance creates a problem for us."{{cite web|last=Ware|first=Gareth|url=http://diymag.com/archive/of-all-the-thing-weve-made-dazzle-ships-at-30|title=OMD: Of All The Thing We've Made: 'Dazzle Ships' At 30|website=DIY|date=4 March 2013|access-date=10 August 2013|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126194428/http://diymag.com/archive/of-all-the-thing-weve-made-dazzle-ships-at-30/|archive-date=26 January 2016}} Sean O'Neal of The A.V. Club told how OMD responded to lacklustre reviews of the album by "pursu[ing] a darker, more defiantly experimental direction on its 1983 follow-up, Dazzle Ships—only to have the critics belatedly declare [Architecture & Morality] a masterpiece." In particular, a 1984 Melody Maker article, in which Helen Fitzgerald labelled the record "the first true masterpiece of the Eighties", offset the unflattering contemporary review printed in the magazine.{{cite magazine |last=Fitzgerald |first=Helen |title=New Junk for Old |magazine=Melody Maker |date=28 April 1984}}

In the All Music Guide to Rock (2002), Ned Raggett wrote: "Combining everything from design and presentation to even the title into an overall artistic effort, this album showed that OMD was arguably the first Liverpool band since the later Beatles to make such a sweeping, all-bases-covered achievement." Mark Lindores of Classic Pop asserted that "Merging the machinations of German electronica with warm Merseyside melodies and otherworldly choral samples... OMD struck the perfect balance between experimentalism and commercial appeal." In Record Collector, John Doran observed an "astonishing record" whose content ranges from atmospheric love songs to the "propulsive and [Gary] Numanesque 'The New Stone Age'" and the sample-heavy "Georgia"; Doran also had praise for Saville's "austere and iconic" cover art. Author Lori Majewski said, "Architecture and Morality is so original, so special, so sublime, that if there were no other new wave bands to speak of, the entire genre could still hang its hat solely on that record."{{cite web|last1=Majewski|first1=Lori|author-link1=Lori Majewski|last2=Bernstein|first2=Jonathan|url=https://www.popmatters.com/181891-mad-world-an-oral-history-of-new-wave-artists-and-songs-that-defined-2495658962.html|title=Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s|website=PopMatters|date=15 May 2014|access-date=16 December 2020}}

File:Moby performing at the David Lynch Weekend, Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, Saturday evening, April 26, 08.jpg, have cited the album as a personal favourite.]]

Architecture & Morality has appeared in several lists of 1981's best albums.{{efn|See:{{cite web|last=Womack|first=Andrew|url=http://www.themorningnews.org/article/the-top-10-albums-of-1981|title=The Top 10 Albums of 1981|website=The Morning News|date=4 April 2007|access-date=9 December 2013}}{{cite magazine|last=Nicholls|first=Mike|date=26 December 1981|title=Albums|magazine=Record Mirror|page=20|quote=8. Architecture & Morality, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.}}{{cite magazine|date=23 January 1982|title=1981 Poll Results: Best Album (no. 6)|magazine=Record Mirror|page=9}}{{cite magazine|date=24 December 1981 – 6 January 1982|title=Smash Hits 1981 Poll Winners: Best Album (no. 10)|magazine=Smash Hits|volume=3|number=26|page=23}}{{cite news|title=The Best & Worst of '81|url=https://spiritofradio.ca/Charts/CFNY-1981.pdf|work=Now|date=7–13 January 1982|page=16|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712055258/https://spiritofradio.ca/Charts/CFNY-1981.pdf|archive-date=12 July 2012|access-date=7 March 2025|via=SpiritOfRadio.ca}}{{cite web|url=http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2013/04/01/best-albums-of-1981/|title=Top 100 Albums of 1981: Slicing Up Eyeballs' Best of the '80s – Part 2|website=Slicing Up Eyeballs|date=1 April 2013|access-date=10 August 2013}}{{cite web|last=Reed|first=Ryan|url=https://www.spin.com/photos/the-50-best-albums-of-1981/|title=The 50 Best Albums of 1981|work=Spin|date=12 April 2021|access-date=29 November 2021|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412145102/https://www.spin.com/photos/the-50-best-albums-of-1981/|archive-date=12 April 2021}}{{cite web|last=Jackson|first=Josh|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-albums/the-best-albums-of-1981-1/|title=The Best Albums of 1981|website=Paste|date=21 June 2021|access-date=29 November 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/x-lists/best-albums-1981/|title=The 25 Best Albums of 1981|date=10 August 2023|publisher=Radio X|access-date=31 August 2023|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810120208/https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/x-lists/best-albums-1981/|archive-date=10 August 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://laut.de/News/Best-Of-1981-40-Jahre,-40-Alben-28-05-2021-17936/Seite-3|title=The Best of 1981: 40 Years, 40 Albums|date=28 May 2021|website=laut.de|language=De|access-date=12 February 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-1981-albums/|title=The Best 1981 Albums: 50 Classics from a Turning Point Year in Music|last=Palmer|first=Tamara|date=8 July 2021|website=uDiscover Music|access-date=22 March 2022}}}} The Morning News placed the record at no. 1, adding that "it's stood as the blueprint for synth-pop; few have approached an improvement upon its design." Critics Tomasz Beksiński and Pieter Steinz each ranked the album among the five most important of the New Romantic era.{{cite book|last=Weiss|first=Wiesław|author-link=Wiesław Weiss|date=2016|language=Pl|title=Tomek Beksiński: A True Portrait|publisher=Vesper|pages=215–217|isbn=978-8377312438}}{{cite book|last1=Steinz|first1=Pieter|author-link1=Pieter Steinz|last2=Mourits|first2=Bertram|date=2014|language=Nl|title=Listening & Cetera: The Web of Pop Music in the Eighties and Nineties|publisher=Atlas Contact|isbn=978-9045027913}} Architecture & Morality has been listed as one of the great records of the 1980s by outlets such as Uncut,{{cite magazine|date=2024|title=Ultimate Record Collection: 500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s|url=https://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/Uncut%20Greatest%20500%201980s%20Albums.htm|magazine=Uncut|access-date=26 April 2024|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426090926/https://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/Uncut%20Greatest%20500%201980s%20Albums.htm|archive-date=26 April 2024|via=Rocklist.net}} Mojo{{cite magazine|date=August 2007|title=80 from the 80s: Mojo{{'}}s Favourite Albums of the Decade (supplement)|url=https://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/mojo.html#Mojo%20%E2%80%93%2080%20From%20The%2080%E2%80%99s|magazine=Mojo|issue=165|access-date=17 January 2023|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430213047/https://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/mojo.html#Mojo%20%E2%80%93%2080%20From%20The%2080%E2%80%99s|archive-date=30 April 2024|via=Rocklist.net}} and the St. Petersburg Times,{{cite web|last=Spears|first=Steve|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2010/02/07/stuck-in-the-80s/|title=Stuck in the '80s: 80 Must-Own Albums for '80s Fans, Part 3|website=St. Petersburg Times|date=7 March 2010|access-date=1 October 2023}} and was voted 13th in Classic Pop{{'}}s "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s" reader poll.{{cite magazine |last=Peel |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Peel (journalist) |title=Top 100 Albums of the 1980s |magazine=Classic Pop |issue=20 |pages=24–37 |date=December 2015 – January 2016}} Laut.de named it the seventh-best synth-pop album of the decade,{{cite web|url=https://laut.de/News/Forever-Young-Die-Synthie-Pop-Alben-der-80er-10-08-2012-9019/Seite-24|title=Forever Young: The Synth-Pop Albums of the 80s|date=10 August 2012|website=laut.de|language=De|access-date=12 February 2025|page=24}} while Ultimate Classic Rock declared it the 35th-greatest new wave album and "a crucial connecting point in synth-pop's MTV-era transformation from wrist-slashing industrial-town dirges to sleek, love-struck modern pop music."{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/best-new-wave-albums/|title=Top 40 New Wave Albums|last=DeRiso|first=Nick|date=19 October 2021|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|access-date=17 March 2022}}

Architecture & Morality has featured in various "all-time" lists,{{cite web|url=https://www.goldminemag.com/news/goldmines-hall-fame-inductees-volume-43|title=Goldmine's Hall of Fame Inductees - Volume 43|last=Marder|first=Phill|date=13 March 2014|website=Goldmine|access-date=3 April 2024}} including those compiled by Phantom FM,{{cite web|url=http://www.phantom.ie/page/190.218.406/1594/0/|title=Top 500 Albums of All Time|publisher=Phantom FM|access-date=3 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204051500/http://www.phantom.ie/page/190.218.406/1594/0/|archive-date=4 December 2013|url-status=dead}} The Guardian,{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/21/1000tohearbeforeyoudie2|title=1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die: Artists Beginning with O|website=The Guardian|date=21 November 2007|access-date=15 November 2024}} Bremen Eins,{{cite web|url=https://www.bremeneins.de/musik/groesste-alben-100.html|title=The Greatest Albums of All Time|publisher=Bremen Eins|language=de|access-date=23 January 2025|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521111111/https://www.bremeneins.de/musik/groesste-alben-100.html|archive-date=21 May 2024}} music journalist Fredrik Strage,{{cite web|url=https://www.dn.se/kultur/fran-the-congos-till-alphaville-har-ar-fredrik-strages-500-basta-album/|title=From the Congos to Alphaville – Here Are Fredrik Strage's 500 Best Albums|last=Strage|first=Fredrik|author-link=Fredrik Strage|website=Dagens Nyheter|language=Sv|access-date=12 February 2025|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002062630/https://www.dn.se/kultur/fran-the-congos-till-alphaville-har-ar-fredrik-strages-500-basta-album/|archive-date=2 October 2020}} and author Robert Dimery (in the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die).{{cite book |editor-last=Dimery |editor-first=Robert |title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |publisher=Cassell |year=2005 |page=476 |isbn=978-1844033-92-8}} It was also named as one of the Quietus{{'}} favourite albums, and was included in critic Mark Fisher's "Top 100 British Albums".{{cite web|last=Doran|first=John|url=https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-dark-architecture-and-morality/|title=30 Years On: OMD's Architecture & Morality Remembered|website=The Quietus|date=29 November 2011|access-date=4 May 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://k-punk.org/k-punk-top-100-british-albums/|title=Top 100 British Albums|last=Fisher|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Fisher|date=23 June 2004|website=k-punk.org|access-date=21 January 2023|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114211307/https://k-punk.org/k-punk-top-100-british-albums/|archive-date=14 January 2017}} Paste ranked Architecture & Morality the fifth-greatest synth-pop album in history, noting the "brilliance" of a record whose prominence within the genre "was earned and has only grown" since 1981.{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-albums/50-greatest-synth-pop-albums-of-all-time|title=The 50 Greatest Synth-Pop Albums of All Time|last=Mitchell|first=Matt|date=21 July 2023|website=Paste|access-date=21 July 2023}} Classic Pop numbered it the eighth-best electropop album, observing "both a fully realised work of art and a superlative example of synth-pop".

Musicians Moby,{{cite web|last=Turner|first=Luke|url=https://thequietus.com/interviews/bakers-dozen/moby-favourite-albums-baker-s-dozen/12/|title=Corrupting Sonic DNA: Moby's Favourite Albums|website=The Quietus|date=24 September 2013|access-date=16 December 2020|page=12}} Frost,{{cite web|url=https://louderthanwar.com/frost-top-ten-albums/|title=Frost – Top Ten Albums|last=Lay|first=Sarah|date=15 November 2012|website=Louder Than War|access-date=3 October 2020}} Tor Lundvall,{{cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/fave-five-tor-lundvall-2633644483.html|title=Fave Five: Tor Lundvall's Favorite Albums of All Time|last=Sawdey|first=Evan|date=26 April 2019|website=PopMatters|access-date=8 December 2021}} Front Line Assembly's Rhys Fulber,{{cite magazine|last=McDonald|first=Seth|date=2003|title=Conjure One|magazine=Industrial Nation|issue=17|pages=70–73|issn=1062-449X}} The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon,{{cite web|last=Tuffrey|first=Laurie|url=https://thequietus.com/interviews/bakers-dozen/neil-hannon-the-divine-comedy-the-duckworth-lewis-method-favourite-albums/9/|title=Batting Order: Neil Hannon's Favourite Albums|date=4 July 2013|website=The Quietus|access-date=4 January 2021|page=9}} and Low's Alan Sparhawk{{cite magazine|url=https://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/low/low-het-geluid-van-ontwaken/8433/index.html|title=Low: Het Geluid van Ontwaken|last=Heemskerk|first=Joris|date=21 January 2005|language=nl|magazine=KindaMuzik|access-date=5 July 2023}} have named Architecture & Morality one of their favourite albums; Anohni,{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm90K2DqK5f/|title=Video by Anohni|date=3 January 2023|publisher=Instagram|access-date=4 January 2023|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/anohni/3007789569810148959|archive-date=4 January 2023|minutes=1|quote=...Architecture & Morality [and] Dazzle Ships. Those records, they really changed me when I was a kid. I'd never heard anything quite like it.|via=Ghost Archive}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804061442/https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/anohni/3007789569810148959|date=4 August 2023}}.{{cbignore}} Spacemen 3's Peter Kember,{{cite magazine|last=Kember|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Kember|date=June 2020|title=My Life in Music: Sonic Boom|magazine=Uncut|issue=277|page=118}} and X Marks the Pedwalk's Sevren Ni-Arb{{cite web|url=http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/reviews/sevren-ni-arb-x-marks-the-pedwalk-ten-albums-that-changed-my-life/|title=Sevren Ni-Arb (X Marks the Pedwalk): Ten Albums That Changed My Life|last=Becu|first=Didier|date=28 August 2015|website=Peek-A-Boo Magazine|access-date=5 January 2023}} have cited it as an important record in their lives. Underground Lovers credit their career to the album.{{cite web|last=Mack|first=Emmy|date=20 June 2024|title=Love Letter to a Record: Underground Lovers on Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's 'Architecture and Morality'|url=https://musicfeeds.com.au/features/love-letter-to-a-record-underground-lovers-on-orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-darks-architecture-and-morality/|website=MusicFeeds|access-date=30 January 2025}} Moby said, "I mean it's not hard to overdo the hyperbole, but it's a perfect album, so cohesive, and every song perfectly speaks to the other song, the unapologetic emotional quality of it is really inspiring. Even the artwork by Peter Saville, everything about it is perfectly crafted." Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu called the record a "masterpiece",{{cite web|url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2012/08/xiu-xiu-headphone-highlights|title=Headphone Highlights: Xiu Xiu|date=22 August 2012|website=Red Bull Music Academy|access-date=5 January 2023}} while Charlatans vocalist Tim Burgess staged a Twitter listening party of the album, describing it as "genius" and "absolutely beautiful".{{cite web|url=https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_40.html|title=Architecture and Morality replay|last=Burgess|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Burgess (musician)|date=14 April 2020|website=Tim's Twitter Listening Party|time=9:33 & 9:39 PM|access-date=16 September 2021}} Architecture & Morality has received further endorsements from Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies,{{cite book|first=Richard|last=Houghton|year=2019|title=OMD: Pretending to See the Future|edition=expanded paperback|publisher=This Day in Music Books|pages=414–415|isbn=978-1-9161156-2-0|quote=Amazing music.}} Alex Naidus of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart,{{cite web|author=The Pains of Being Pure at Heart|author-link=The Pains of Being Pure at Heart|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/guest-lists/7599-the-pains-of-being-pure-at-heart|title=The Pains of Being Pure at Heart|website=Pitchfork|date=26 February 2009|access-date=16 December 2020}} Jon Campbell of The Time Frequency,{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/JonCampbellArtist/posts/pfbid02dLxwj3a3RLJy5dVSoiSAGTvoTxg9i2dC7ep6X2ZjdnfNGqKz24AEstnrHsBdUNAal|title=The 20 Greatest Synthpop/Electronic Albums of All-Time|date=9 March 2024|website=Jon Campbell|access-date=20 March 2025|via=Facebook}} {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20240310231203/https://www.facebook.com/JonCampbellArtist/posts/pfbid02dLxwj3a3RLJy5dVSoiSAGTvoTxg9i2dC7ep6X2ZjdnfNGqKz24AEstnrHsBdUNAal|date=10 March 2024|url2=https://web.archive.org/web/20250319192409/https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https://www.facebook.com/JonCampbellArtist/posts/pfbid02dLxwj3a3RLJy5dVSoiSAGTvoTxg9i2dC7ep6X2ZjdnfNGqKz24AEstnrHsBdUNAal|date2=19 March 2025}}{{cbignore}} and Jonn Penney of Ned's Atomic Dustbin, who selected it as the record he would place on a Christmas wish list.{{cite web|url=https://musicrepublicmagazine.com/2020/06/track-record-jonn-penney-of-neds-atomic-dustbin/|title=Track Record: Jonn Penney of Ned's Atomic Dustbin|date=29 June 2020|website=Music Republic Magazine|access-date=27 January 2021}}

The subject of multiple "classic album" analyses,{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nyj7r|title=OMD's Andy McCluskey joins Steve|publisher=BBC Radio 6 Music|date=21 November 2012|access-date=16 December 2020|quote=Architecture and Morality, the Classic Album of the Day.}}{{cite web|url=https://worldwidefm.net/episode/classic-album-sundays-omd|title=Classic Album Sundays: Architecture & Morality by OMD|publisher=Worldwide FM|access-date=20 March 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220320080450/https://worldwidefm.net/episode/classic-album-sundays-omd|archive-date=20 March 2022}} Architecture & Morality is recognised as a seminal record of both the synth-pop genre, and the 1980s.{{cite web|url=https://www.factmag.com/2013/01/14/omd-to-release-new-album-english-electric-in-april/|title=OMD to Release New Album English Electric in April|date=14 January 2013|website=Fact|access-date=6 January 2023}}{{cite news|last=Key|first=Philip|date=26 January 2007|title=New Manoeuvres Are on the Cards|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/New+Manoeuvres+are+on+the+cards%3B+the+interview+Andy+McCluskey+talks...-a0158365408|work=Liverpool Daily Post|access-date=6 January 2023|via=The Free Library}} Fact labelled it "a key influence on the 80s synth-wave [sic] explosion",{{cite web|url=https://www.factmag.com/2010/05/24/omd-return-with-a-history-of-modern/|title=OMD Back from the Dead with a History of Modern|date=24 May 2010|website=Fact|access-date=25 May 2023}} while Rolling Stone en Español listed the record among "The 20 Key Synth-Pop Albums", further describing it as "one of the most influential albums of the decade".{{cite magazine|url=https://es.rollingstone.com/los-20-discos-clave-del-synth-pop-arg/|title=The 20 Key Synth-Pop Albums|last=Fernández|first=Jorge Luis|date=5 December 2022|language=Es|magazine=Rolling Stone en Español|access-date=19 November 2023}} Architecture & Morality has been the focus of three tours: as well as touring in support of the album upon its release,{{cite book|last1=Waller|first1=Johnny|last2=Humphreys|first2=Mike|title=Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Messages|publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson|year=1987|isbn=0-283-99234-4|page=98}} OMD included all of its songs in the main set of their 2007 comeback tour{{cite web|url=https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/live-reviews/omd-architecture-and-morality-dazzle-ships-live/|title=OMD's Cold War Album Comes in from the Cold: Dazzle Ships Live|last=Huggett|first=Stuart|date=17 May 2016|website=The Quietus|access-date=4 January 2021}} (which spawned the 2008 live album and DVD, OMD Live: Architecture & Morality & More), and also staged a 40th anniversary tour in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.stereoboard.com/content/view/229931/9|title=OMD Announce Architecture And More UK Arena Tour For 2021|date=27 October 2020|website=Stereoboard|access-date=4 January 2021}} The record has sold more than four million copies worldwide.{{efn|See:{{cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/orchestral-leap-dark-2480880|title=Orchestral Leap in the Dark|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=3 February 2007|access-date=10 June 2021}}}}

All songs by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, except where noted

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = The New Stone Age

| note1 = McCluskey

| length1 = 3:22

| title2 = She's Leaving

| length2 = 3:28

| title3 = Souvenir

| note3 = Humphreys, Martin Cooper

| length3 = 3:39

| title4 = Sealand

| length4 = 7:47

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title5 = Joan of Arc

| note5 = McCluskey

| length5 = 3:48

| title6 = Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)

| note6 = McCluskey

| length6 = 4:12

| title7 = Architecture and Morality

| length7 = 3:43

| title8 = Georgia

| length8 = 3:24

| title9 = The Beginning and the End

| length9 = 3:48

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2003 remastered CD bonus tracks

| title10 = Extended Souvenir

| note10 = Humphreys, Cooper

| length10 = 4:16

| title11 = Motion and Heart

| note11 = Amazon version

| length11 = 3:07

| title12 = Sacred Heart

| length12 = 3:30

| title13 = The Romance of the Telescope

| note13 = unfinished

| length13 = 3:22

| title14 = Navigation

| length14 = 3:00

| title15 = Of All the Things We've Made

| length15 = 3:25

| title16 = Gravity Never Failed

| length16 = 3:24

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2007 collector's edition bonus DVD

| title1 = Souvenir

| note1 = promo video

| length1 = 3:25

| title2 = Joan of Arc

| note2 = live on Top of the Pops, 29 October 1981

| length2 = 2:58

| title3 = Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)

| note3 = promo video

| length3 = 4:02

| title4 = Almost

| note4 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length4 = 3:54

| title5 = Mystereality

| note5 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length5 = 2:41

| title6 = Joan of Arc

| note6 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length6 = 3:25

| title7 = Motion and Heart

| note7 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length7 = 2:58

| title8 = Maid of Orleans

| note8 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length8 = 3:14

| title9 = Statues

| note9 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length9 = 3:49

| title10 = Souvenir

| note10 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length10 = 3:25

| title11 = The New Stone Age

| note11 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length11 = 3:02

| title12 = Enola Gay

| note12 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length12 = 3:29

| title13 = Bunker Soldiers

| note13 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length13 = 2:47

| title14 = Electricity

| note14 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length14 = 4:17

| title15 = She's Leaving

| note15 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length15 = 4:26

| title16 = Julia's Song

| note16 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length16 = 4:25

| title17 = Stanlow

| note17 = live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 4 December 1981

| length17 = 6:28

}}

Notes

• "Navigation" is edited some 30 seconds shorter at the end; the full original length version (3:26) is available on Navigation: The OMD B-Sides.
• Disc one of the 2007 collector's edition is the same as the 2003 remastered CD.

• Paul Humphreys – synthesisers, piano, Mellotron, acoustic and electronic percussion, organ, rhythm programming, radios, melodica and vocals
• Andy McCluskey – synthesisers, Mellotron, guitar, bass, rhythm programming, acoustic and electronic percussion, reed horns, organ and vocals
• Malcolm Holmes – drums, electronic and acoustic percussion, bass synthesiser
• Martin Cooper – saxophone
• Michael Douglas – synthesisers, piano, organ

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Architecture & Morality}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Netherlands|artist=OMD|title=Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1981|certyear=1982|access-date=3 October 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|artist=Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark|title=Architecture & Morality|award=Platinum|type=album|relyear=1981|certyear=1982|certref={{cite book |last=Salaverrie |first=Fernando |date=September 2005 |url=http://www.mediafire.com/file/x263f6daopkswo8/Spanish+certifications+for+1979-1990.pdf |title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 |language=es |edition=1st |location=Madrid |publisher=Fundación Autor/SGAE |page=916 |isbn=84-8048-639-2}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=OMD|title=Architecture and Morality|award=Platinum|type=album|relyear=1981|certyear=1982|id=566-1296-2|date=4 February 1982|access-date=26 December 2020|refname=UKcert}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=yes}}

{{reflist}}

{{notelist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081220204958/http://www.omd.uk.com/html/song_am.html Album lyrics] at official OMD website

{{Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Architecture and Morality}}

Category:1981 albums

Category:Albums produced by Mike Howlett

Category:Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark albums

Category:Virgin Records albums