The band's follow-up still finds it working very much in the vein of orchestral rock, largely driven by
Stewart Wooly Wolstenholme
's keyboards and the presence of the
London Symphony Orchestra
. The reach of the music exceeds the grasp of the lyrics, though -- they lack the cold oracularity of
Peter Sinfield
or the allusive cleverness of
Peter Gabriel
. Still, there's some fine compositions here.
"She Said"
turns upon a keening opening Mellotron riff to develop into a slow-four dirge.
"Song for Dying"
shows off the band's fine ability at vocal harmonies, while the later concert standard,
"Mocking Bird,"
shows a dramatic evolution from pensive acoustic guitar to a full-blown orchestral attack. ~ Paul Collins