^
quite exactly that yes. Up to a few months back I thought IV, V and VI were on pars but then I listened to them back to back about 3-4 times and came to the conclusions that IV is way better than V and that VI is actually not that good. The illusion came from the fact that they basically sound like the same recording session, as will VII prolly
Yes. It took me months to pick up VI and I only did so for a single track. IV is the last album I really enjoy all the way through. V & VI are certainly better than a lot of the crap floating around out there, but that's not really saying all that much.
I'm still a Shining fan, and I'm not 14, but will most likely stick to the earlier material.