ok..........
a couple of issues.
various persons have been 'banging on' about the production values and techniques employed on ALL their releases since HOB.
this is inevitable....dare to be different?

'first takes'......yeah!
that's why i love 'em, things created 'in the moment'...........it works for me.

u#23 has one major flaw............if anchorage had exploded into a twin-guitar and mellotron freakout at the end instead of wimping out, the whole album would be viewed in a different light.
alex...and no doubt many others would re-asess every track before and after it.......cobolt blue would seem the perfect brooding opener, the start of a slow but compelling build towards the album's almost climax...........because as we all know that honour belongs to operetta, which would seem even sweeter still.

these guys rock like no-one else live...............will it ever be captured in the studio?


having said this...it is their most consistently good album and they have few,(if any) peers.