The album is the first 10cc studio album to feature the band as a six piece. The new lineup was already assembled for the tour in support of the band's previous album,Deceptive Bends, but changingTony O'Malley forDuncan Mackay on the keyboards. The band was solidified with songwriting and lead vocals contributions from other members than the core duo of Stewart and Gouldman. It was also the first 10cc album to feature songs written separately by Stewart and Gouldman.
The cover art was again created byHipgnosis with graphics byGeorge Hardie and shows a map being blown into someone's face. The map is showing the French islandMartinique, located in theLesser Antilles of theWest Indies in the easternCaribbean Sea. The cover photograph was taken byAubrey Powell of Hipgnosis. The cover idea had been first presented toGenesis, who rejected it.[3] The cover was also the first to feature the longtime 10cc logo with a star inside the zero.
The first single, "Dreadlock Holiday", backed with non-album track "Nothing Can Move Me", preceded the album and topped the charts in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it became the band's third and last number-one hit.[4] Driven by the success of the lead single, the album reached number 3 in theUK Albums Chart.[5]
The second single varied in different territories. While most of the countries received "Reds in My Bed", "For You and I" was issued in America where it was also featured on the soundtrack for the filmMoment by Moment, while "From Rochdale to Ocho Rios" was released in Oceania. TheB-side was "Take These Chains" for all territories.
Record World said the single "For You and I" "is a typically lush production with picturesque lyrics and a pop perfect hook."[6]The Globe and Mail noted that "this is not what you would call progressive music exactly, yet it's probably as advanced as pop gets, in or near the mainstream."[7]
The album was reissued on CD in 1997 adding "Nothing Can Move Me", the B-side to "Dreadlock Holiday", as bonus track. In 2008, the Japanese reissue added additional versions of the album songs as bonus tracks.
^Scaping, Peter, ed. (1979). "Top 200 LPs in 1978".BPI Year Book 1979: A Review of the British Record and Tape Industry. London:British Phonographic Industry. pp. 182–185.ISBN0-906154-02-2.
