The Alien is a remarkable song, initial music idea from MM and lyrics by JLB, then naturally JP and JR filled in the rest… not the best song but a true team effort. Kind of glad it got them their Grammy.
I hear D/T front to back, i.e. riff first, and A View back to front, i.e. rhythm first. It’s still early, but they complement each other so well in that aspect, plus song composition (length) and production, that these end up as their top two second-half-era albums. At least to my ears they are.