It's not misdirection, it is point out your own hypocrisy, and your general tendency to get condescending quite quickly when people disagree with you, it's pretty common in your posts.
If I need to be clear, I have no problem with Paul's vocals, they are by no means the greatest pipes in the world, but the emotion he conveys is well received by me, the listener. The simple lines of "touch, sweet touch" express a longing desire much more than any howly Adelle ballad. Croaky? Taking a dying dump? I don't hear any of that. I don't even notice an issue, and surrounding his voice is a great soundscape. Reminds of some Tangerine Dream style ambiences, which in electronic should be more common, but sadly isn't and is often replaced with clean sterile sounding kicks and snaps.
It's headphone music because of its subtleties, and by that I mean it's a great album to put on some great headphones and absorb. There are many albums like that, that really ask the listener to sit and focus exclusively on the music in order to truly appreciate the nuances and minor details. Some albums don't need that attention, they can be appreciated and enjoyed in the background of a party, while reading, or blasting through a pair of bad car speakers. I listened to RAM 3 times or so on my ride home from Indianapolis last weekend and I know I would have missed so much of it if I hadn't listened with headphones. That's my personal style. I thought Lark's Tongue in Aspic was a bullshit album the first time I listened to it, because I had it in the background while driving home one day. When I actually sat with it I realized how I missed and how it is easily one of King Crimson's best albums. Did you catch how amazing some of the drum parts were? The fantastic plays on the high-hat and snare. Stuff like that.
If there is an easy criticism of this album it is that perhaps it is overly indulgent, that at 70 minutes there is just too much, and maybe they should have shaved some parts down. Considering, however, in this day and age where much mainstream and independent music is celebrated for its simplicity, lo-fi, or half-assed production I am glad that there are still acts that will over indulge in their music and throw everything and the kitchen sink in. Daft Punk had to know that songs like Motherboard (I think the highlight of the album) or Giorgio by Morodor would never be on the radio or hit singles, but they made them anyway, and how they felt they should be done. I'm so glad they did. I think it worked brilliantly.
