HERE ARE YOUR FAVORITE LIBERATOR TRACKS
Stand Above Me-----16%
Dream of Me-----14%
Christine-----13%
Heaven Is-----13%
Best Years of our Lives-----8%
King of Stone-----7%
Dollar Girl-----6%
Only Tears-----5%
Love You and Hate You-----5%
Angus Dei-----5%
Everyday-----5%
Sunday Morning-----5%
HERE IS HOW YOU RATED LIBERATOR
Good album, would reccomend it-----50%
Outstanding, top s favorites-----35%
Best OMD album ever-----20%
Average-----10%
Below Average-----4%
horrible, would never own-----1%
HERE'S WHAT YOU HAD TO SAY ABOUT LIBERATOR
"Initially, I was very excited about 'Liberator' after the tremendous success of 'Sugar Tax', a refreshing album after years of inactivity. Especially after hearing the 1st single "Stand Above Me", which I expected a similar style curved from 'Sugar Tax', but only better. Well, I was only half right. 'Liberator' continued the full-fledged electronic route of its predecessor but overdosed w/ pop-charting elements. Songs like "Dollar Girl", Love & Hate You", "Heaven Is" could have been hits for the likes of Kylie Minogue but hey, we are talking about OMD here! It's possible that the success of 'Sugar Tax' might have eluded Andy McCluskey, and he probably realized the decreasing success of its singles "Dream of Me" and "Everyday" on the UK single charts. Having said that, 'Liberator' have plenty of exciting moments, such as the aforementioned "Stand Above Me", "Everyday", "Dream Of Me" (a clever 'borrowing' from lovemeister Barry White), "Only Tears", "Agnus Dei" are all gems. And despite what the critics said, Andy did a pretty good job at covering Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning". Overall, 'Liberator' didn't surpass 'Sugar Tax', but it didn't disappoint either."
Colin Liu
Toronto
CANADA
"I loved this album. It got such an upbeat sound and alot of bass. It is a good
album to have playing when you want to be heard. Many days have been spent cruising
in the Mustang 5.0 convertable with this song blasting.
Its hard to pick if this is my favorite or one of the top 3 ablums, because
I love all of OMD's stuff, and which ever album I'm listening to, that's my
favorite at the time! Again OMD rocks!!"
Unknown Person
"Overall, a pretty good album that shows the "new" direction of OMD. Excellent variety, with upbeat dance tunes ("Agnus Dei","Heaven Is") as well as some of the deeper, more melancholy songs ("Christine", "Only Tears"). Not their best album, especially considering that it comes after their "breakup". However, it does have a nice mix of tunes, and almost every song is very listenable."
Darren Munk
Concord, California
USA
"I liked the stronger and more polished sound over all, but generally it was a
slightly above average album to listen to. I loved the way they did Agnus Dei
in the Liberator tour, though, it was really powerful. "Heaven Is" is an old
favorite from OMD's live shows toned down for the LP, it sounds okay but the
real thing is a million times better. I was glad that Andy continued the sound
he started with Sugar Tax."
Paul Gurule
Oklahoma City
Patrick and Jennifer Oltraver
San Diego
USA
Tien Vu
Irvine
USA
Jose Luis jimenez
Spain
Deitre Zeinve
Kaysville
USA
MJ
Madison
U.S.
Lee Parnell
Burlington, MA
U.S.A
Rich
Shrewsbury
USA
Bil Sefcik
Youngstown, OH
USA
STEPHEN DAVID BARNES
SALT LAKE CITY
AMERICA
Duncan McCrea
Sydney
Australia
Alexander Elofsson
Helsingborg
Sweden
Sulu
Chicago
USA
Neil Taylor
England
Andrew Lillie
Citrus Heights, California
U.S.A.
Dave Carbone
Toronto
Canada
Daniel Svanberg
Mariefred
Sweden
James Boaz
Bellingham, WA
USA
Guillermo nunez
Hermosillo
Mexico
Juliette K.
Scarborough Maine
USA
Pat Fetty
Monroe
Washington
USA
"This album confirmed the opinion we always had that Andy was the man behind
the moments we love OMD most for. We were expecting a let down after the long
time lapse between Sugar Tax and Liberator, but Andy did what so few bands
are able to do well, and that is come back with an album rivalling the last.
Hope the next is as consistent as the previous."
"I was really disappointed with Andy's direction with OMD. Besides Stand
Above Me, Dream of Me, Sunday Morning, and Best Years of Our Lives, I
didn't care too much about the other songs on the album. I am a die-hard
fan of OMD for 12 years now, yet I have to admit that it's their weakest
album to date. On the positive side, the above songs are outstanding,
comparable to songs on their other later albums, especially Stand Above Me."
"The most synthetic O.M.D's albums !!!
but overall there are not too many great songs on it.
I love "Chrisitine" because the strings remind me "The romance of the Telescope"
and "Dream of me" has all O.M.D feeling even though it is a version,
other of my favourites is "Heaven is" which sounds great maybe it could become a
live classic."
"This album is my second favorite. (my number one favorite is OMD greatest hits)
OMD is one of the most talented groups I have herd in a long time. I used to own
this CD but someone stole it from me! I was ready to kill everyone when I found
it stollen. all well I guess I'll just have to buy a new one."
"Liberator Rules! Its unique blend of acoustics techno/soft-pop/lyrics(chanting vocals)/and funky groovey music make this album one of their best
ever. Each song is unique in its own way. The music and Andy's vocals make this album so enjoyable. This is easily one of their best. Everyone should
own a copy."
"Awesome sound!!!!!!!!! The first 3 tracks are great!!!!"
"Well I was happy with Liberator for the most part. 'Stand Above Me' was
a fantastic single. Very refreshing. And though 'Dollar Girl' was also a second
favorite of mine, it did seem a little too familiar sounding. I also loved
his cover of 'Sunday Morning'. That should have been
a single. A song I was not happy with was 'Love You and Hate You'. I
t was too silly and seemingly meaninless. I love every direction that the
band has always taken with each new album and 'Liberator' was just a
different direction. By reading the OMD news update in here, it seems
that Andy will be trying to get back to that 'real band' sound
which is probably an excellent move. Too much electronic with OMD tends to
make the sound a little too....well not quite as genuine. As is proven to me"
"This album is the most underrated album of 1993 far surpassing
depeche modes "songs of faith and devotion". After the time it took me
to enjoy sugar tax (itself a good album although, I disliked it at first)
this album knocked me to the floor."
"I loved it! Definately one of their best!"
"G'Day! An enjoyable album - it gets quite a bit of airplay at home.
Very catchy melodies with interesting lyrics - particularly on Christine.
Agnus Dei is cool. Sunday Morning is very easy to relate to!
Best Years of Our Lives is a good track. 7 out of 10."
"Sugar tax is according to me, the best OMD album ever.
This album was after that hyped and I had great expectations of it.
When the first single cane I immediately realized that this was no Pandoraīs box:
I still waited much of the album and when it came it was such a dissapointment that I
really didnīt believe my ears. A very lame album which I only forgive OMD for because of
their brilliant performance in Lund later this year. To hear them perform brilliant
electropop in front of a hundred people and making a great show of it was very impressive.
As impressive in fact as their long row of brilliant synthpop singles.
In spite of my expectations the music from Liberator worked and sounded well live.
I will always love OMD for this evening. I also met McCluskey hwo in real life seemed
to be a very nice person!"
"This is by far the most "poppy" of all of OMD's albums. Something is lacking in this album. A small handfull of songs are still high quality ones (Christine, Everyday).
Andy needs to stop following the trends and become the innovator he once was. that's what I found appealing to OMD in the begining."
"A definite mixed bag. On one hand, the similarities of many of the songs to tracks on "Sugar Tax" is quite obvious and somewhat disturbing. But, on the other hand, the raw intensity of tracks like "Agnus Dei" and "Heaven Is" prove that Andy hadn't lapsed into writing "Sugar Tax" over again.
Similarly, while I would say that overall it is a better album than "Sugar Tax" in construction, it lacks the novelty that that first few listens to "Sugar Tax" gave.
In the final analysis, its a good album that is made to seem less interesting by the stylistic similarity to "Sugar Tax" Liberator......well the album that perhaps changed my life..but that is another story. This was a cock up album in the making,after Sugar Tax Andy was riding high and even before the album was released it was decided in the UK that arenas were going to be the venues for the tour,this realy upset fans in a MAJOR way and I am afraid that many of them thought Andy had sold out and at long last had become a major "Pop star" this was not the case and none of the venues sold out and the album was only a minor hit..
As for the album,well ther is the usual mixed bag with some song like Love & Hate which should never have been on the album.Best Years Of Our Lives should have been realesed as a single,O.M.I.T.D. have never realesd a slow love song,and this track does my head in every time I hear it (Love you Linda..if ever you read this) it is so very simple but powerfull,sadly they only played it live in Liverpool.....Christine,well what can you say ????? another rich song about a prostitute who kills her self,the best way to listen to this is in a dark room after a few beers,listen to them words and create a picture in your mind...WOW
Stand above me should have done better than it did,but perhaps people said it sounded like S.O.T.S.S. very simple with nice hooks.....Heaven Is was great live but in my opinion was not up to the original version but thats the way the mop flops.Dream Of Me was such a disaster for Andy,he was so sure that it was going to do well but it never did.....great video though !!!!!!!!
OK thats all folks........"
"FLASH BANG WHALLOP WHAT A PICTURE !!!!!!!!!! :Ž)))))"
"Nice CD, nice sweeping synths in a lot of the songs, good energy in them too,
very upbeat tempo, harkening back to early energy songs like electricity and
Enola Gay. I like all songs with the name Christine (being my wife's name)."
"Just Great!"
"Andy carried the "Sugar Tax" sound too far and it ran out of steam with
this release. Not to say that the release doesn't work. The pain and
tears of "Best Years of Our Lives" contrasted well with the playful, yet
sincere longing in "Dollar Girl." The weaker tracks are too short on instrumental support
(Only Tears), too flippant (Heaven Is), or just sort of muddled in a
warm-overed pop forumalic thought (Everyday). What carried the release
for me was "Dream of Me", which blended very well with a recessed tempo
and smooth harmony. Quite ethereal and romantic, very much what hooked
me to OMD way back in the days. Andy's arrangement of "Dollar Girl" and
"Dream of Me" was great and though it is kind of like "Speed of Light"
and "Was It Something I Said" on "Sugar Tax", it worked better and this
made the release work."
"This is the second OMD album I got.
I was expecting a "Sugar Tax" like album, and I wasn't disappointed.
This is my second favorite OMD album. Even though, it lacks some of the
highlights of "Sugar Tax". "Stand Above Me" stands as the best track on the
album, keeping the flavor of the "Sugar Tax" opening track. "Everyday"
sounds a lot like "Pandora's Box". Both songs are great, but they don't
achieve the "Sugar Tax" first two songs. Next comes "King Of Stone" which
might be beautiful for other. I don't consider this song as an exciting one.
I think is too boring. Andy tried to recapture that "haunting, hypnotic and
ethereal" sound of the early 80's, but he failed. "Dollar Girl" is a good
companion to "Speed of Light". "Dream Of Me", is my second favorite track here.
I think it's pretty romantic. The rest of the album is OK. We have the hard-
core techno tune "Agnus Dei" which is also kind of boring. The first side is
very exciting, but side b isn't. However, I will always consider it my second
favorite album. I'll always enjoy it. Could have been more interesting though."
"Disappointment complete. I love the band but refuse to own this. Can NOT compare to early releases. I haven't even taped any of the songs. To me, this is not true OMD."
"This album to me was a very mixed bag. Some songs I love and some I refuse to listen to. Andy had alot of good ideas for this album, I think lyrically it is very strong, but this is definitely a pop album. The stronger tracks on Liberator, in my worthless opinion, are "Christine", "Angus Dei" and "Stand Above Me." The latter is the best single OMD has released since the days of "Enola Gay" and "Messaes", it is a typical OMD song with its catchy rhythm track and melancholic lyrics. I played "Stand Above Me" over and over again during the first 2 weeks I owned it which made me look forward to Liberator even more. The biggest problem I have with the album is some of the songs being very bland. I cannot stand "Dollar Girl" or "King of Stone" for this reason. The other problem with Liberator is the choice of singles that were released. "Everyday" and "Dream of Me" should not have been singles although the video for "Dream" is pretty cool! A better choice would have been "Heaven Is" and\or "Christine" and "Angus Dei". Lyrically, "Christine" is one of the best songs Andy has ever written and "Angus Dei" is just OMD being OMD in trying out new and different sounds. Overall, I enjoy Liberator even if I have to skip few some tracks on the CD player and would rate it a 7 on scale to 10. That's all for now, see you all again in May!!"