To me, it was the moment that Mr C-T crossed over in to self-parody -- not a good thing to do on only your second LP. The reaction at the time from critics was astonished horror (it's one thing to salsa up Billie Holliday, or turn Laura Nyro into a rodeo queen; it's another to dare to mess with a newly minted satanic classic). The band never really recovered, despite some other fine stuff on that and the next album.
"Lucy you just so damn BAAAD!"