Sugar Tax is the first album
OMD recorded without
Paul Humphreys, and while the record is less adventurous than most of the group's previous albums, that's not necessarily due to his absence. Instead, OMD began a slow decline into light soul-inflected synth-pop in the late '80s, and
Sugar Tax, while thoroughly competent, is nothing more than predictably refined and pleasant dance-pop. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine