it's a compact and focused listen... i guess i can kind of see it not *hitting* audiences on a first listen, but this is the kind of shit i wanted to spend some time w/.. there are def. a lot of great great moments on the album.. and i think the transition from the end of Separator to the beginning of Bloom almost forces a back-to-back listen each time i play the album.. and it's short enough for me to be ok w/ doing that... i never understood ppl arguing over album length.. "only 8 songs?? they just didn't give me enough for my money!".. that's like saying a painting is worse than others because it happens to be smaller.. i don't get that logic..