Owning something to the Psychedelic Furs and U2 "Mad Jack"**** gives both a run, and with the blazing opening riff and bombastic vocal delivery, it's a solid opener. With chiming delay-drenched guitars and spooky keyboards closer to late-80's Cure, "Caution"****, though subdued almost manages to keep up momentum through nearly 8 minutes, until Mark Burgess' yawps get a bit silly near the end. The tom-heavy introduction of "Soul In Isolation" resembles earlier Cure, including the generous 7:30 length which is a bit unnecessary. Featured on the Life Less Lived goth box, the aptly named "Swamp Thing"**** is surprisingly dark, even following the previous resemblances to The Cure, though the heavy downbeat makes the song club-ready were it not for the anthemic chorus. "Time/The End of Time" and "In Answer" follow in a predictable Psychedelic Furs new-wave vein, while "Childhood" is almost power-pop. Side 2 is more sporadic than the first. "Seriocity" dials all the way back to soft pop, while the instrumental "I'll Remember" forms an unremarkable though pretty Slowdive-y series of heavily-delayed arepeggiated chords. Of the bonus cuts, "Tears"**** reinterprets a fine quietly dramatic version of the same song from the album, this time in a Furs/rock version. "Paradiso" and "Inside Out" are both solid pop songs, but are crushed by a joyously hopped-up cover of "John, I'm Only Dancing"**** and a towering "Tomorrow Never Knows"**** that comes close to the intense drive of the original.
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