"Back to being who I was before," sings Damon Gough on the title track here, and there's no doubting his sincerity in wishing to retain touch with his hallowed, pre-fame self. Hard, then, to pinpoint what's lacking on One Plus One Is One, which is more pebbles then pearls. The arrangements are elaborate, with the exception of a school chorus on "Holy Grail", which feels very clichéd and wrong. There are strings, woodwind, Byzantine chord changes and mood shifts—and there are flashes of sublimity, but too often hideous flashbacks of Jethro Tull and ELO. The enchantment of The Hour Of Bewilderbeast has slipped, like mercury, through BDB's fingers. The result is an album which simply doesn't add up.

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