Let me clarify: I don't care for the later ones because two are Christian-oriented and the other (aren't there now six Golden Ring recordings?) seemed to be more "contemporary" rather than traditional in flavor. The song selection was poorer and the style of performance for even the traditional songs was more foofed up. This is based on recollections of some years back, when I was sampling the newer albums. Maybe it was like listening to Joni Mitchell's "Chalk Marks in the Rain" after wearing out "Turbulent Indigo", "Court and Spark" and "Wild Things Run Fast"--the bar had been set too high. The Christmas album was okay, but I only recall a couple of songs that weren't in the "been there, done that" category, and those few didn't grab me. Mind you, others may not be as "jaded" and may find all the albums delightful, particularly if they haven't been spoiled already by the first three--there was a warm, homey character to them that the later recordings didn't recapture, in my opinion. I was also a LOT younger then, and the early Golden Ring songs became indelibly imprinted on my impressionable mind, helping to form my folk tastes.

FWIW, Howie Mitchell was my inspiration for building and playing hammered dulcimers (for various reasons, practices I've long since discontinued, though my fingers still twitch for the hammers.)