In my opinion Satch has been getting less interesting in his studio affairs since 'Is There Love In Space?'. I liked that record, but 'Strange Beautiful Music' was just awesome.
Joe has been getting a bit more jammy, which was resulting in a couple of songs that didn't have that good songwriting you know Joe can do.
This new record however, I think I like it almost as much as 'Crystal Planet' or 'The Extremist'. Great songs, melodies, nice mix of styles, and the songs really groove. Adding to that, it sounds great sonically (unlike Professor Satchafunkilus).