Shaw's second album was a substantial improvement on her debut in every respect, though hardly a major effort. It helped that
Chris Andrews (who wrote most of her hits) supplied a lot of the tunes. and
Shaw herself contributed a fair effort with her first original composition, "Till the Night Begins to Die." "Down and Dismal Ways" is as down and dirty as
Sandie ever got (which means that it's still pretty innocuous). Still, you can't help wondering how much better
Lulu or
Dusty Springfield would have done with the same material. No need to look for a rare, pricy copy of the original LP; all of the songs are included on the British double-CD compilation 64-67 Complete Sandie Shaw Set.