Happy New Year 'Troutster'...
"If I had to bet, Fraulein preferred the sound of the early
Beatles over their later masterpieces."

Florian... perhaps you've hit the nail on the head here and, opened
the door for me to more precisley explaining what it is I've been
trying to say.
Your use of the word 'sound' is completely out of place in your
attempt to understand my thoughts on the band as they are today.
Simply put, I believe The Church's songs of late have become more
complex 'sound-wise' (not a criticism) BUT, at the expense of 'musicality'.
Or, put differently, I have no quarrel with the way the band has
evolved 'sound-wise' since 'GAF'. I am though, disappointed with what
IMO is a departure from the 'Churchy catchiness' that could be
found on all of their releases through 'P=A'.

That, in essence is my critisism of post 'P=A' material.
Now, even that may change as IMO (and despite my critisism of 'Numbers')
'Numbers' is light-years ahead in terms of Church 'catchiness'
than what was released on 'MATS' and 'HOB'.
Who knows 'Trout', 'AETN' may be the perfect 'compromise' in
terms of your 'sound' and my 'music' as we'd like to see it.

Cheers, Fraulein.
Bliss comes first as a jangling flood ...