Among the post-Butler additions was a reworked ending to "The Wild Ones", replacing the four-minute extended outro; an orchestral coda on "Still Life"; and the aforementioned guitar parts on "The Power", which Butler criticised. Butler became a harsh critic of the album, not just from a production standpoint, but of its overall musicianship. He cites lack of commitment in the studio and the band's unwillingness to embrace his elaborate ideas as his main criticism: "I just heard too many times, 'No, you can't do that'. I was sick to death of it. I think it's a good record, but it could have been much better." On the other hand, Buller has stated that the recording process had some "happy accidents" while the tape was running. Butler recorded separately from the rest of the band in a purpose-built lounge. There was a TV in the lounge and Butler can be heard tuning the TV at the beginning of "The Asphalt World". At the end of the song, Butler can be heard changing channels and picking up a section of dialogue from Lauren Bacall from the film Woman's World. Buller also talked of the impromptu recording of Butler playing the intro to "The Wild Ones" on a dobro outside as he sat on the roof of his car. Osman and Buller share similar views on the final recordings. For example, Buller described "Still Life" as being "over-the-top"; he said "New Generation" was in the wrong key, and that its drums and mix were "appalling". Osman stated that he regretted the addition of the orchestra on "Still Life" but understood the appeal of it; and he criticised the production of "New Generation", saying the song "suffers from the murkiness of the mix". Influences and themes Writing for The New York Times, Neil Strauss said: "Dog Man Star looks back to the era when glam-rock met art rock, with meticulously arranged songs sung with a flamboyance reminiscent of David Bowie and accompanied by anything from a 40-piece orchestra to an old Moog synthesizer." The Bowie influence was still omnipresent, however, unlike their debut, Suede focused on a darker and more melodramatic sound. Some critics compared the record to Diamond Dogs. With many noting "The Power" as the most obvious ode to Bowie. David Byrne of the Irish Independent noted the similarity in the song's outro to Bowie's "Starman". Anderson stated that a lot of