All I know is...I definitely wouldn't expect them to take the same approach with the new album that they did with PL. That would be a first for the band and that would fucking floor me.
For the record, I would be pissed as hell if the production were the same that it was on PL. There are almost no dynamics in that towering wall of sound. Everything is turned up to eleven and there are almost no breaks in the amps.
And bringing Mr. Pinnella back into the mix would be nice.
Sure I love some of the songs on PL(and by love I mean 3 or 4). They just need to stop forcefully bleeding the issue. Romeo and most notably Russell sounded especially forced. And that just isn't their element. Subtlety and varied textures make for far more colorful soundscapes and that is where their brilliance shines.
Uriah Heep did "Return To Fantasy" in 1975 and SX need to do "Return To Prog Wizardry" in 2010.
I don't expect them to and I would be fine with a more dynamic and varied album as they have already hinted at. More songwriting credits from the other guys could only be an asset too.
As I rank them:
Music
The Divine Wings Of Tragedy
The Damnation Game
The Odyssey
Twilight In Olympus
V: The New Mythology Suite
Paradise Lost
Production
V: The New Mythology Suite
Twilight In Olympus
The Odyssey
The Divine Wings Of Tragedy
The Damnation Game
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost still rocks though and SX will always be my favorite band.
Written in the stars for me.....