[1] Upon its release, Lawrence Donegan of The Guardian praised the album as "faultless" and considered it "a real renaissance" in comparison to the band's "moderate" 1992 debut The Phantoms & the Archetypes.

"[3] Mark Luffman of Melody Maker was positive in his review, commenting that it is Quinn's "faith in the power of pop to communicate that enables him to transend the oppressive despair at the heart of this record".

"[5] Keith Cameron of NME considered the album to be made up of "immaculately consumptive laments for which buddies like Roddy and Edwyn would simply die" and was particularly favourable towards the title track, which he called "the most portentous expression of unrequited love ever conceived" and a "mini-symphony of lovesick madness".

"[4] Amy Hanson of AllMusic noted how Quinn's "distinctive voice [and] rich deep tones spins out in front of what amounts to a series of interesting, but unobtrusive, backing melodies" and felt that, while the mood is kept "fairly somber", Quinn "often loads [the album] with unexpected dips and twists, ensuring that anyone taking the chance can't settle in and kick back too easily".

Reviewer Damien Love called it "Quinn's swooning, vampire-soul magnum opus" and added that with the "recklessly ambitious second album, the group scaled Olympus".