This is part two of a trilogy (that came AFTER his initial burst of three classic albums (Tubular Bells, Ommadawn, Hergest Ridge)). The trilogy are bound together by the Taurus (I, II, III) tracks which can stand alone but if pushed together make up a separate album (possibly a bit overly "conceptual"). Taurus II on Five Miles Out also creates another separate composition alongside the last (title) track if pushed together. He does like to keep it complicated.
Just thinking about the first track on the album (the rest is filler, building up to the finale), it can sound a bit "twee" when jumping in and out of the piece so it's best to listen in the chunks proposed by the movements in it. Items particularly worthy of note and that I always enjoy are his signature compressed tone (he plays with his fingers (ie. not a pick)) most of the time) and the fast vibrato at the end of phrases which really add punctuation. I think he used a Fender Twin on this album and it always sounds like it's about to break up into a forced harmonic (listen to the upward runs starting at 4:18 (I also like the use of trumpets/cornets as a percussive element in this section)). Another nice touch is the "Hey-Nonny-No" folk bit which starts at 6:12 and gets invaded by a nicely crunchy Gibson of some sort. The conceit of the whole piece weaves in and out, popping up every few minutes (especially in the bass line) to remind us that this whole malarkey is just a prelude to the title track.
Previously a gloriously innocent hippy rocker done up on acid, he'd passed his best by this time but the album shows what he could have been had he not turned to self indulgence.
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