persona of Aubrey Dawney, which he describes as "a sort of 1914–1918 fighter ace, plus a bit more. Mick Farren described him as being a cross between Biggles and Lawrence of Arabia – which he is, he has connections with the Far East and also opium smoking". It was first performed live during 1976's Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music album tour, a version appearing on Atomhenge 76, and remained in the set until the formation of the Hawklords in 1978. A new studio version was recorded for the 1987 album Out & Intake, and since then it has almost been an ever-present element in the live set, appearing on numerous live albums, usually under the title "Assassins of Allah". "The Forge of Vulcan" is a Simon House-written instrumental, featuring organ, synthesiser, and sequencer with percussion provided by hammering on an anvil in reference to the mythology of Vulcan. It was played live during the tour of the album, a version appearing on Weird tape 5, but then dropped. "Days of the Underground" is a self-reflective song covering the halcyon days of the band. "Iron Dream" is an instrumental based on Gustav Holst's "Mars", its name taken from Norman Spinrad's book The Iron Dream. The track was typically played live as a climax to "Uncle Sam's on Mars", versions of which can be heard on The Weird Tapes. It has also appeared under the title "The Dream Goes On" on 1994's The Business Trip album, and with added lyrics as "Are You Losing Your Mind?" on 1995's Alien 4 album. Critical reception The album was warmly received by the British weekly music papers at the time of its release, Sounds noting that "the band are still capable of making a stir", and Melody Maker that they had "gone part of the way [in rehabilitating themselves]". Critics especially praised Calvert, Sounds stating "Calvert, having adapted to his role as frontman, now pulls out the stops, his poetical-lyrical contributions working particularly well", Melody Maker observing that "the band have developed a real sense of humour" and the album "finds Calvert in very fine form as a lyricist", while the NME assessed it as "sci-fi comic book thrills to the proles, only this time around Bob Calvert's psychotic sense of humour is well to the fore". The critics were less complimentary about the progress in the band's music, with Melody Maker noting that the lyrical