So last night I thought I was being on top of things, relatively speaking. Yesterday afternoon the new OMD single was released and I managed to eke out an hour after dinner to buy the DL and post about it before the news got too cold, in spite of this period being exceptionally busy for me with things that have preempted my normal writing schedule. I posted around 8:30 and at that time the OMD webstore was offline for maintenance. It might have been minutes after I posted and began getting ready for bed, but the email was in my inbox shortly after I woke up at 4:00 a.m.

I had wondered what the deluxe package with “all of the music” would be for OMD this time. The previous three albums, all loved by this fan, usually came in elaborate boxes costing $70-80 each with a second CD and usually a DVD, and mandatory vinyl [colored] of some sort. As long as we were safely under three figures, I would grit my teeth and being an OMD collector, I would buy them. This time, deep as we are into the vinyl bubble, things are far more granular… and inexpensive, from my perspective! First let’s examine the basic album and its contents.

STANDARD CD

OMD: Bauhaus Staircase – UK – CD [2023]

1. Bauhaus Staircase
2. Anthropocene
3. Look At You Now
4. G.E.M.
5. Where We Started
6. Veruschka
7. Slow Train
8. Don’t Go [new ver.]
9. Kleptocracy
10. Aphrodite’s Favourite Child
11. Evolution Of Species
12. Healing

SIGNED, NUMBERED LIMITED DELUXE CD

OMD: Bauhaus Staircase – UK – Ltd. Signed/Numbered 2xCD [2023]

Disc 2

1. Bauhaus Staircase 2.7 Demo. Andy 30th Aug 2020
2. Anthropocene Demo (A Haven for Lost Souls 1.1 Paul’s track April 2020)
3. Look At You Now Demo (Zimmer Frame For Andy) Paul 28th Feb 2021
4. G.E.M. Demo (Culture War. Andy 6th March 2021)
5. Where We Started Demo (Stadium 6.0) Andy 26th May 2020
6. Veruschka 2 Demo 2nd December 2020
7. Slow Train Demo 1.3 Dec 2020
8. Don’t Go Demo 14th Nov 2018
9. Kleptocracy Demo (When I Was Young) Andy 14th March 2021
10. Aphrodite’s Favourite Child Demo (B Side Choir) Fotonovela 2011
11. Evolution Of Species 2.5 ruff
12. Healing Demo (Water April 9th 2020)
13. Bauhaus Staircase Demo. Andy 20th July 2020

The cover is very different with the John Pesch painting of the same name that inspired the album. While earlier deluxe packages have had a selection of demos, this disc has the whole album in earlier form, with the title track in two other recordings for good measure. The edition will be hand signed by Andy + Paul and is to be manufactured according to demand. So pre-order is a must if you want one of these at the modest price of $23.00…which is what I call a steal in these times. I will be pre-ordering this tonight after dinner as I am busy writing now.

BLACK + SPLIT COLOR LP

The standard cover adorns the two lower priced LPs of the album. You get black vinyl for $33.00 but I’m actually dazzled by what $6.00 more nets you; the angular split color red/gray edition as shown above.

SIGNED, NUMBERED LIMITED EDITION DIE-CUT COLOR LP

There exists another LP analogous to the CD above with my name on it: an LP in a limited edition that’s signed and numbered by Andy + Paul with a die-cut sleeve and yellow wax as shown above. I have to hand it to OMD; they have worked that die-cut LP sleeve fetish since day one and come by it honestly. This sleeve also has the John Pesch artwork and it will set one back the most of any of these single variations: $58.00 for the privilege. In case you want to see the die-cuts in action, OMD have helpfully provided an animation as seen below.

They think of everything, though PPM did this last year in this post. So the red areas are the die-cut holes, showing the inner sleeve color. Nice. This being the age of Post-Irony®, there are other formats to consider. Namely…

CASSETTE

I actually have two modern cassettes. One was a bundled thing. But looking at that tape shell…do mine eyes deceive me or is that a TDK-SA cassette shell?! Any home taping geeks know what “SA” stood for? “Super Avilyn,” the high bias formulation based on cobalt-ferric particles. [Monk checks…]

That suuuuure looks like it. But I’ll bet that the shell design has lapsed into public domain by now and that OMD tape is probably not TDK quality [notice the lack of screws…]. In any case, the tape will set you back $11.00. The official UK OMD webstore has any number of combo packs for the OMD superfans. With the ultimate bundle being the one at the head of this post; a £173.00 value…yours for only £139.00. Twenty percent off. The US OMD store has the basics, unbundled. And that’s good enough for my purposes. And the official website is calling *m*z*n.uk a liar…the album is released on October 27th, not the 20th that I reported yesterday. I’m ordering that 2xCD right now from the US OMD webstore. Anyone else up for what is reputed to be the final OMD album? [Though I’ll believe it when I see it…] Then you know what to do. D.J. click that button!

OMD UK STORE PRE-ORDER

OMD US STORE PRE-ORDER

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