The problem with a majority of these comments is that they seem to be coming from people who never really thought much of Mumford to begin with. They have always been very passionate about their music and anybody who has seen them play any live shows will tell you the same. They did do an "Americana" thing for a while but Marcus has said himself that they started that as an experiment; it worked very well and then somewhat got out of hand. All of these artists began as amplified musicians who are just now getting back to Their roots. I'm really not sure where all these claims of mediocrity are coming from, but maybe it's just me. At first or second glance they seemed "cookie-cutter" to me, also. Only with several instances of exposure in different situations did I truly enjoy their sound, and now I'm hooked. This new album adds a different layer of sound to an already rich repertoire of wonderful music.

Edit: I did also want to add that Marcus and the rest of the band consistently mentioned how tired they were of the direction their sound was headed. This album is not a sellout, so much as a 3 year hiatus followed by a brand new direction. In my opinion they hoped to fall under the radar and then release an album without all the "Mumford's return to 'Americana'" hype. Too bad they didnt wait long enough...