I'm not as familiar with pre B/N Mac as most of you. But I will say that I'm pretty amazed with Buckinghams studio prowess. Pop songs or not, that man knew his way around production.
It makes me a little sad sometimes that there are, and have been, some really great musicians out there who could release amazing music... if they'd just get their goddamn heads out of the booth and leave it to the professionals. In the same vein, musicians that need to back a bit away from the concept of a "live" sound. Live shows are fun because of the event. Live recorded music is generally terrible. And I know it makes them want to recreate the rush they get from performing, but that's really only about 25% of making an album. The other 75% is writing and arrangement, production and mixing, and assloads of money, and possibly drugs.