Oranges & Lemons in Bloomington, MN

Skylarking
was an ambitious yet concise record, one that recalled such graceful concept albums as
Pet Sounds
and
Sgt. Pepper
, so it wasn't entirely a surprise that
XTC
embraced
psychedelia
on its double-album follow-up,
Oranges & Lemons
, especially if their celebrated
Dukes of Stratosphear
side project was taken into consideration as well.
lacks the singular focus of
, but at its best, it's just as impressive as its predecessor. Instead of revelling in the form of
psychedelic pop
, as they did with
the Dukes
,
bring the genre's sensibility to the mature
pop
of
, spiking it with a wry, occasionally absurd sense of humor missing from its predecessor. The result is a record exploding with details, not the least of which are backward guitars, sound effects, and head-spinningly eclectic arrangements. It's sonically rich and filled with immaculately crafted songs, but
falls just short of being a tour de force, since each song feels like an island -- they work well as individual tracks, but they don't form a cohesive statement. However, that's a minor complaint, because
Colin Moulding
Andy Partridge
in particular are in peak form, contributing some of their very finest songs in
"Garden of Earthly Delights,"
"The Loving,"
"One of the Millions,"
"Merely a Man,"
"Pink Thing,"
and the elegiac
"Chalkhills and Children."
Such songs make the relative weaknesses of the album well worth enduring. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine