The Carnival of the Animals conclusion of the verse for the "Fossils", for example, fits perfectly with the punchline-like first bar of the music: In 2014 the English contemporary music organisation New Music in the South West (NMSW) commissioned a set of responses to the 14 movements of "Carnival of the Animals". The pieces, collectively known as "A Modern Menagerie", were premièred by the Bristol Ensemble on 7 September 2014 at St. George’s, Bristol. The programme consisted of the original Saint-Saëns movements interleaved with the contemporary responses under the title "Carnival of the Animals" meets "A Modern Menagerie". A number of the composers have taught
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark journalist said: "If Kraftwerk were the Elvis Presley of synth-pop, then Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were its Beatles." In 2008, American publication "The A.V. Club" noted that McCluskey and Humphreys were "often labeled as the 'Lennon-McCartney of synth-pop'." In a 2008 piece on OMD, "The Quietus" magazine editor John Doran called them "the only Liverpool band to come near to living up to the monolithic standards of productivity and creativity set in place by the Beatles", and asserted: "Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark are not one of the best synth bands ever: they are one of the best bands