As a long-time DL fan, I try to be objective as much as possible when listening to their new releases and singles. I am on my 2nd spin now...I did really enjoy the first 2 singles "Kick" & "Take What You Want". I know Kick has been somewhat hot/cold for many...I really like that classic glam-70's rock vibe to it....of course it could be mearly coincidental because I have a lot of ANGEL in my rotation this past month. :-)

But after reading the liner notes, etc. and the first two things that initially turned me off, was that those 2 Allison Krauss songs....I have no issues with her music and bands collaborating/dueting...but these songs do not vibe and kill the overall theme and essence of the album....easily could have been 2 bonus tracks to promote and label.

The 2nd. The drums. All the drums are electonic, computer programming drum machines. There is absolutely no Rick Allen participation here. And you can feel it and hear it in the songs. Which the album loses a little bit of its DL soul here. I am disappointed in the direction here. It wasn't like Rick Allen was incapacitated or not available, etc. I am curious about the story in this move.
This concerns me, because moving forward Joe, Sav and Phil "could" easily say that "IF" a new album comes after this one...sure they can write and record another one, produce it, and release it quickly.......but who needs Rick Allen's authentic drums moving forward on their albums when we can just have Ronan McHugh repeat the process again.

Maybe I am off center here in my feeling here...but IMO, there is a vast different when Rick Allen was playing and recording with an electric drum kit on HYSTERIA & ADRENALIZE versus just using a computer programming drum machine.