I can agree on all points.
I guess on some level though we don't need to tell a duck to quack?
Meaning that some of this stuff while qualitative in nature is inherent to the genre as it is and if you come from a decent lineage for production then you are always trying to shoot for these things holistically as a producer. Its ingrained into your steelo so to speak.
I always know I've done a good job producing a song when people are asking me to turn up the element that their ear latches on to and I have to break it gently to them that their hearing sympathetic harmony
As well its often that little touch of bleed that makes its way into a phrase that people are always latching onto.
I oftentimes mic a guitar cabinet facing the speaker monitors with a 58 and the monitors are set at a moderate level. So you get the drum bleed from the monitors, which kind of ties the guitar or keyboard parts to the drums of the song a bit (as long as you don't change them lol) and you also get the WHUT WAS DAT bleed.
I can't say that the formula Story refers to is a recipe for success but he's right on the money when it comes to evaluating production.
I have a bit of a traditional mindset as well, before I was a producer, I was an engineer and I was fortunate enough to spend so much time with producers that you kind of environmentally absorb. If you have a musical mind then assisting on sessions with a producer or even mixing their songs gives you some great fodder when it comes time for you to organize your own cosmic slop.
Great article Matt!
Peace
Illumination