might not be the kind of record that some people would play front-to-back regularly & could see how some of the Stakes records in terms of tone/tempo would fit better into a DJ set (although 'Saturday' is maybe their best single to throw in a mix outside 'Buddy', 'Millie' is their best story song & 'Bitties In The BK Lounge' might be their most brilliantly humorous one).

I do like the album in stretches (particularly Dinninnit into Brakes) despite the beats/tone running together at times but to me they lost something without Paul & the youthful exuberance/oddness of earlier records that they never fully got back.

Stakes Is High is sorta that line of demarcation for me as a De La fan because it reminds me of that fact (plus sounds a bit silly in terms of the griping considering how strong the genre still was at the point it was recorded).

To me this album's feel is like the college age kid that comes back home on break talking a bunch of shit to his family like he knows everything because he's read a few books.

Kid means well but doesn't yet fully appreciate how much his folks' busted their ass to help pay his tuition & that once he's a man paying his own bills he'll have to put some of that pseudo-activist shit to the side and truly grow up.

Music can inspire but it needs to entertain first.