 Contemporary reviews for the album were mixed . Rolling Stone 's Paul Gambaccini praised the band for attempting something utterly different amidst " a stagnant pop scene " , but criticised the album 's lyrics , feeling they overused British pop culture references , and complained about some musical passages . Despite this , Gambaccini thought the album " merits some recognition " . NME 's Barbara <unk> said the album was " the band 's best , most adventurous album to date " . The Guardian 's Robin Denselow wrote that " much of the material is <unk> and tedious " . 
