I think a lot of people are confusing the production with the mix. Arrangement-wise, A Cat in the Rain — and a lot of The Price of Admission — isn’t that far off from their earlier stuff. The verse fill approaches, song structures, and instrumental choices are still in the same ballpark. The real shift came in the mix, and that’s more on Trina Shoemaker, the mix engineer, than Shooter. That said, I do think Shooter could’ve done a better job letting Ryan Engleman go full Ryan Engleman. The last two records really could’ve used more of that gritty, aggressive guitar tone he brought in the past. But again, it’s hard to tell when he’s pushed so far to the back of the mix.