Critical Reaction
Melody Maker reviewed the album in the context of contemporary German acts, feeling that "their instrumental playing" did not reach the same heights but that "they yield precedence to no-one in their creative use of electronics." Beat Instrumental assessed the album as "excellent" describing the "music alternates between spaced out imagery and hard rock", as well commenting that this is the start of the space trip leading to the "Space Opera".
In the USA, Lester Bangs in Rolling Stone favourably appraised the album in the context of other musical works concerned with space, going on to describe the music as "monotone jammings with hypnotic rhythms and solos unravelling off into... well, space. The synthesizers warble, woof and scream and gurgle like barfing computers, the drums pound, and the singers chant Unknown Tongue rebops." Billboard described the music as "forcefully compelling, electronic and repetitive" and the band "nearly brings to fruition its claim of being a truly 'mind-expanding' rock group"
In April 2006 it made #83 in Classic Rock's "The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums", noting that "drummer Terry Ollis and bassist Dave Anderson could hit an awesome groove, allowing the rest of the band to cut loose on their acid-fuelled sonic adventures without fear of losing themselves or their listeners." In the same issue, Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson placed it at #2 in his top 5, adding "it's an extraordinary whirlpool of cosmic sound, the definitive space-rock statement. I love the album's repetitive, almost pagan feel. It dispensed with the idea of soloists and has a real sense of 'otherness'."
Read more about this topic: In Search Of Space
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