I suspect the human element is lost or reduced when something becomes so perfect that every drumbeat is identical. Sometimes it is the little imperfections or slight variations that give feeling to music... a little emphasis here, a little restraint there. There is a mechanical or machine like sound to the drumming on this album....stunning album, without a doubt, but unsettling to those who fear the Borg ;-)
Couldn't have said it much better. Donald Fagen's albums always seemed like most of the emotion, that was there in the creation of the album, was lost during the recording and production.
Interestingly, I am a perfectionist myself and a scientist (hate to admit it), but music is providing a balancing force in life for me on the other side. With Donald Fagen I am missing a little the spontaneous emotion that is there in the creation of any type of art. In music, I need to capture and experience some of that raw artistic energy.
Hope this helps clarify my notion of "too perfect".
Rene
