as for the "keynsham" album itself, it is an intense, surreal, but near-impenetrable conceptual piece that depicts the town of keynsham as an enclosed psychiatric hospital, populated by anxious and disturbed characters in search of meaning or enlightenment. however this only becomes even slightly apparent to the listener once they have read vivian stanshall's original liner notes (which unfortunately are usually omitted from reissues of the album), although there are a few clues to the theme in the short linking passages between songs. despite the vagueness of the concept, "keynsham" remains for the most part a strong musical collection. innes' songwriting in particular had developed in subtlety and maturity, to a point that equalled many 'serious' artists of the era. stanshall's songs, such as "tent", while still overtly humorous had now taken on a much darker aspect, or, as with "sport (the odd boy)" a new and urgent poignancy. even "mr slater's parrot", stanshall's sole concession to the bonzos sound of old, had an unsettlingly manic edge to it.