I find that third paragraph so interesting because i had the exact opposite reaction after my first listen. I thought this flowed much better than folklore, but was a lot less diverse. It doesn't have the heights of folklore, but might be a better album overall.
I thought this was slightly better than the already-masterful 'folklore'. It just SOUNDS more cohesive and has more of a similar melodic theme overall.
honestly bthat Linkin Park comparison is very apt
and for me that's kind of already the case...i love this way more than i did folklore and i think a big part of that is how diverse it feels and how it's kind of doing a lot more....in a way
whereas folklore could get very boring, very fast (epiphany to hoax is not the best of runs)
and yes...it does kinda drag in the middle...which folklore also did in a way (she really should learn making shorting albums won't kill anyone)