With Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus we have something that few could have expected -- two albums that can both be regarded as self-contained masterpieces; two storming, driving, relentless, devotional, slinky, subtle, heartbreakingly-beautiful records that, lyrically, switch from the cynical to the sanguine, the defeated to the defiant, dealing in love, war, beauty, children, romance, rejection, Pethedine, poetry, panties, God, Auden, Johnny Cash, cold potatoes, too-much-money, not enough money, writer's block, flowers, animals and more flowers. But maybe we're projecting here.