 Retrospective reviews have been more favourable . AllMusic and BBC Music remarked that the album returned to the whimsical eccentricity of Nursery Cryme while retaining the hard rock intensity and pessimism of Foxtrot , combining the best of both elements to make Genesis 's best album up to that point . Robert Christgau , who thoroughly panned most of Genesis 's albums , admitted that the songs " Firth of Fifth " and " The Battle of Epping Forest " have " a complexity of tone that 's pretty rare in any kind of art " , though he summarised the rest of the album by saying " it sounds as snooty as usual . " 
