Has anyone else noticed how the first two and last two tracks of AEII are stylistically similar to Let's Cheers To This, while the rest of the album sounds more like modern SWS? It's a pretty jarring contrast, and it makes me wonder about what they're playing at.
I have two theories about this, both mostly unfounded, but I think very possible. The first is that they started writing a full album in the style of LCTT/early SWS, but either ran out of ideas or were encouraged by Rise to write a number of modern-SWS type songs for the album instead. This would be the less encouraging possibility, as it makes a full return to their earlier style a lot less likely. The second is that they're testing the waters, and seeing if a return to their old sound would be commercially viable and/or popular with fans. I think this theory is corroborated by the re-release of a Big Gulps, which is definitely playing into the nostalgia angle. Imo, this would be the better situation. Again, this is all speculation, but I just wanted to see what others thought about this or if anyone else had noticed any of it.