Of all the EPs deployed (by Island Records) to herald the release of Julian Cope's Saint Julian album, Eve's Volcano 'Covered in Sin' proves to be the least enlightening. Where the other EPs featured spirited cover songs and brilliant, non-album tracks, Eve's Volcano relies on a couple of lackluster live cuts to flesh out its sides which, ultimately, leave it falling just short of brilliant. The title track itself is brilliant -- a jubilant head-nodder and the most lush single Saint Julian had to offer -- but, although the two live tracks (caught during a performance at The Westminster Central Hall in 1987) are both well recorded and well performed, neither wander very far from the album versions and end up telling us nothing new about Cope and his new band. Only "Almost Beautiful Child, Pts. 1 & 2" -- a loosely developed tone and melody experiment -- comes close to capturing the spirit of what must have been a creatively explosive series of studio sessions indeed. -- J. Scott McClintock (allmusic.com)