I'll listen to them both to again in the next few days but I believe the songs on FBN (bar Rivendell) are stronger than those on COS.
I think the arrival of Neil invigorated Alex and Ged's creativity thanks to his ability on the drum kit and the major improvement in lyrics.
This was lost a little in COS thanks to the laudable desire to experiment and push their boundaries. They pushed a little too hard imo. But perhaps they needed to stretch their limits to be able to come up with 2112 a few months later
I think the arrival of Neil invigorated Alex and Ged's creativity thanks to his ability on the drum kit and the major improvement in lyrics.
This was lost a little in COS thanks to the laudable desire to experiment and push their boundaries. They pushed a little too hard imo. But perhaps they needed to stretch their limits to be able to come up with 2112 a few months later