From the Lions Mouth

From the Lions Mouth is the second studio album by English post punk

NME compared the album's bleak nature to Joy Division's Closer. Despite The Sound being posited as a gloomy band, AllMusic wrote, "snake charming opener 'Winning' is like a dash of cold water in the faces of all the bands that were wallowing and withering away at the weeping well [ ] The Sound were not mopes. They had their problems with life, but rather than just vent or escape from them, they confront them and ask questions and attempt to sort it all out." This release included the 1982 single "Hothouse", despite frontman Adrian Borland's wishes that the album should have the same track listing as the original. The song was not included as a separate track, but as a continuation of "New Dark Age".

From the Lions Mouth was well received by critics upon its release. Mike Nicholls of Record Mirror wrote, "The Sound seem set to take up where Joy Division left off and become the saviors of the adolescent grim brigade." NME critic Andy Gill noted themes of "individualism and collectivism" in the album's songs, which he said "are infused with a certainty of individuality and apartness – and all that that entails – but well aware of the need for coming together in an era which has seen apartness emphasized to lethal levels." In its retrospective article "Unspun Heroes", NME praised the album as "underrated" and a "ferocious, vital document." while Trouser Press cited it as the group's best work. Jack Rabid of The Big Takeover commented that the album "established the foursome as a formidable band for the ages." Borland described From the Lions Mouth as "the most polished and probably our most commercial album, with some of the greatest songs".