I don't think MK is embarrassing himself, but I do wish that there were more guitar bits that sounded original and fresh on the later albums. Some nods to older pieces is just fun, but you want to balance it out with something that makes you go "oh, that's clever", too. And it doesn't have to be blazing fast, either. That said, this is more on a detail level - a good song is a good song on it's own, too, regardless if it's just a variation of an old idea that ended up on a record 20 years ago.