With 1971's having left poised quivering on the brink of what friend and foe acknowledged was the peak of the band's achievement, was never going to be an easy album to make. Drummer was already shifting restlessly against 's increasingly mystic/mystifying lyricism, while contemporary reports of the recording sessions depicted bandmate , too, as little more than an observer to the vast tapestry that , , and were creating. For it was vast. comprised just three tracks, the epic "And You and I" and "Siberian Khatru," plus a side-long title track that represented the musical, lyrical, and sonic culmination of all that had worked toward over the past five years. would make the Top Five on both sides of the Atlantic, dispatch on the longest tour of their career so far and, if hindsight be the guide, launch the band on a downward swing that only disintegration, rebuilding, and a savage change of direction would cure. The latter, however, was still to come. In 1972, was a flawless masterpiece. ~ Dave Thompson