Good topic, thanks for picking that up.
Let me precise said comment I made in this thread:
http://www.hypnos.com/smf/index.php?topic=4479.0 :
Innovation might be the wrong word, let's say
development instead. The latest Steve Roach releases sound well.. pretty much like older Steve Roach releases. There's a high level of self-similarity. Whereas when I compare it with Robert Rich - he has much more development in his latest works.
This doesn't say anything about the quality of music. I truly admire Steve's work and I'd probably never get close to his deepness of atmospheric layers in my own music. However the new releases just don't excite me any more, I'm missing the "wow, I NEED to get that" factor because I think I've already heard it in the previous CD.
Development (or its more drastic form: innovation) isn't just about sounds, it's about the totality of all musical aspects instead. I have to admit I don't know anything from Ralph Towner except his name, but if I take a random band/musician that comes to my mind: Esbjörn Svensson (RIP) and EST (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) - I have all of their albums and you can clearly hear the development in the music,
although it's always the same instruments (piano, bass, drums).
However I guess it must be very hard to keep up with the self-development over such a long time...