The second image is not relevant to the album as it appears to show a single.

Black Rose might have been the better title for this album, as it's pretty dark. Most of the songs either directly or indirectly seem to be addressing the labors of love gone wrong. Nobody sells a mean, snarky pop song like Cale, and here he seems to be suffering through the slings and arrows with the best of them. I'm not really sure why this album is so widely maligned. Cale fans seem to be as cranky and contrary as the man himself. To my ears, 7 out of 9 of these songs are classic Cale and actually remind me a lot of moody, reflective later work like Black Acetate and Hobosapien. Of the remaining two, Satellite Walk sounds like a deliberate send-up of New Wave music in general and a possible dig at One Mr. L. Reed in particular, while Chinese Takeaway should have been more aptly titled Chinese Throwaway, as it's little more than a cynical noodle. Oddly enough, the people who don't like this album seem to universally cite that song as the only real standout. It really makes me wonder if we're listening to the same record.

Originally titled "Black Rose" picture above is the test pressing. There are two test pressings with different mixes to the finished commercial LP