Warthur Beware of Darkness was Spock's Beard's second album, and also longstanding keyboardist Ryo Okumoto's studio debut with them, Ryo having previously debuted as part of the live performances supporting The Light. Their debut had very much been dominated it its two epic tracks (The Light and The Water), but this time around the band go for more of a balance between epics and briefer compositions, the longest track being the 16 minute closer Time Has Come and the briefest being Chatauqua, which weighs in at less than 3 minutes.

This is not the only respect in which the band seem to be making an effort to show their range here. With the album opening with a George Harrison cover (alright I suppose, but I'm just not keen on the song) and some gorgeous Kansas-esque vocal harmonies and sparse voice-and-guitar moments on The Doorway, the band seem to be testing just how commercial they can go, but on the other hand how much of a shift to commercial acceptability can this represent when you have stuff like Thoughts which is very much in the style of Gentle Giant's most complex works?

For that matter, The Doorway really illustrates how many different styles the band are able to touch on - the band also work in Genesis-esque keyboard solos, classical guitar, and an almost reggae-ish moment into its running time. They'd roved all over the map stylistically on The Light too, of course, but here things seem just a touch tighter and more purposeful than the free-wheeling explorations there. That said, if you want something more sprawling, the album closer absolutely has you covered and feels like the logical extension of The Light and The Water.

I can't give this a perfect mark solely because I just don't rate the George Harrison cover very highly. The fact is, Spock's Beard concentrated on honing their songwriting this time around to the point that they don't really need the cover - the original material here is that strong.