I haven't listened to Cassette or any of Women's output, so my feelings are based purely on this album. I'll admit, I listened to it probably a good six times passively, and a lot of it never really stuck in my head. I finally gave it a full, focused listen straight through tonight, and I can definitely see a lot of good in it in parts that sort of bled together before.
A major problem for me is that the vocals get seriously buried in the mix throughout the album. Sometimes it's okay because the rest of the music carries enough interest that the vocals and lyrics don't need to be the centerpiece. In the first half of the album though, it seems strange that they decided in production to make the vocals sound like they're in another room from everything else. Not that I'm saying I'd want an intimate sound right in my ear, but just a little give would've been nice.
The mix also kind of flattens the impetus in "Death," especially in the middle section between the two choruses. It just lacks depth for me because the dynamics stay at pretty similar levels for the full 11-minute length of the track. Even in the last verse and chorus of the first half of the song where the vocalist starts yelling, there isn't much of an actual difference in audibility. It makes focusing on the content itself considerably harder for me.
Like I said though, I do enjoy a lot of what's there. The ending swell of "Newspaper Spoons" makes that great transition from the thumping, quasi-tribalistic quality in the opening to the pure, droning synth chord. I know that I pointed out in another thread how much I love the ending section on "March of Progress" as well. There's something about the jangly electric guitar part that's absolutely infectious to me.
... there's also one thing I noticed. Maybe I'm totally alone on this, but the opening to "Bunker Buster" strikes me as something that'd get snagged for a car ad.
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