[3] The album opens with "Eat Y'self Fitter", described by a music critic as "an endlessly cycling rockabilly chug with extra keyboard oddities and sudden music-less exchanges for the chorus".

[4][7] Side two opens with "Smile", which according to Raggett "shows the band's abilities at tense audio drama excellently", with "a relentless, steady build, winding up to a total explosion that never comes".

[4][7] Reviewing Perverted by Language, Robert Christgau commented on "side-openers that go on so long you don't really notice your attention flagging as their momentum gives way to, well, poetry readings – roughly accompanied, as usual".

[16] Andy Strike of Record Mirror deemed it "as uncompromising as ever", but also lacking in material that matches "the heights of Slates or the more inspired moments on Room to Live".

[15] Brian Edge, in his book Paintwork: A Portrait of The Fall, considered that the album demonstrated Mark E. Smith's "ability to use words as blunt instruments, as opposed to painterly devices or catchphrases".

"[11] In his book The Secret History of Rock, Roni Sarig viewed the album as the band taking "a distinct turn toward a more accessible, pop-oriented sound".

[17] Robert Ham of Stereogum saw it as a return to form after Room to Live, calling it "another near-masterpiece", and commenting on how Steve Hanley's bass lines drive the album.