I think, when you're creating an album that uses only samples, you're basically creating something where you have an infinite palette to work from and can twist the sounds in any way you see fit. I think DP thrived in that sort of environment, and somewhat restricting themselves to a live instrument-only format has somewhat stifled them in that way. Honestly, I think they would've been better off taking a broader approach of, say, combining the best of live instrumentation *with* the ability to sample, loop, filter and process both their own original instrumentation and things from decades past.
I dunno. I guess I can't help but feel that this isn't as creative an album as I was hoping... and while it's obviously a better produced and better sounding album than Discovery, it doesn't feel as creatively diverse and "free", I guess. I mean, it sounds diverse, but diverse whilst losing cohesiveness (whereas Discovery was diverse but was still able to fit together, like a jigsaw puzzle of a Picasso painting).
Edit: Fuck, I think I've basically reworded exactly what you wrote. My apologies if so! At least your post made the top of the new page
