Having launched their career in promising fashion with the very well-received album, Los Angeles-based now seemed poised to take things to the next level and become one of the '80s biggest stars. Further buoyed by widespread critical approval, the band and their label, , were especially careful when planning to record 1985's all-important follow-up, . Enlisting the services of top producer was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle, and all involved were confident that this would be the band's "career" album. But while was certainly a more refined, more confident effort than its predecessor, it also felt somewhat less vital and spontaneous -- contrived even. Standouts like and are meticulous studio creations which proved the band's songwriting talents were indeed improving from strength to strength. But while the band was convinced that they'd successfully captured their "live sound" for the first time, many old-school fans flatly disagreed. For these, was missing that certain elemental spark of excitement which had made their debut so memorable, and the off-the-cuff looseness of rehashed older material like arguably proves their point. Still, the stunning beauty of the epic with its glorious smorgasbord of harmony guitars, represents a career peak by any standard. Finally, for a band which always took itself perhaps a bit too seriously, was approaching maximum paranoia here, with songs like and the aforementioned both brimming with high-strung tension. Apparently, so was the band, who parted with founding guitarist as soon as the album was completed. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia