Guitarist Ollie Halsall was now a key foil for Ayers and his playing on the opening track "Observations" is a clear demonstration of his dexterity.

Elton John also joined the sessions, contributing some outstanding piano work to several tracks, including "Circular Letter" and "Toujours Le Voyage".

Reid's concept was to market Ayers as a pretty boy rock star and the cover painting he commissioned for Sweet Deceiver demonstrates this to shocking effect.

Ayers has subsequently stated in interviews that he was "deeply upset" by Kent's reaction to the album, although he failed to notice how delicately the scales of credibility were balanced within the 70s avant-garde music scene.

Kent commented (NME, Dec 7, 1974) that when he first heard the song "Sweet Deceiver" at a Glasgow Apollo concert, "it rhymed ‘rain’ with ‘pain’ to questionable effect.” However, it is Ayers himself who offers the most accurate critique of the situation in "Guru Banana" where he pointedly satirises his own pop promotion; "Who's the one with the grin on his face / Says he's gonna save the human race / He laughs a lot as he climbs to fame / Now what's his name?