The primarily experimental structure of their second album, Spleen and Ideal, released at the beginning of 1986, dispelled any notion that the band deserved the post-Gothic label slapped on them by the music press. Spleen and Ideal defined a new richness of unification between voice and music, lyrics and structure, that suggested a concrete sense of the aural ideal the band were striving for.

The title of this album was taken from a piece of poetry from the 18th Century Romantic poet, Baudelaire, and was chosen for the fact that it evoked the “conflict between sinning flesh (spleen), and the struggle to realize the ideal.”

Track Listing
1. De Profundis (Out Of The Depths Of Sorrow)
2. Ascension
3. Circumradiant Dawn
4. The Cardinal Sin
5. Mesmerism
6. Enigma Of The Absolute
7. Advent
8. Avatar
9. Indoctrination (A Design For Living)