Looking back on
CMI (the first game in the series that I played), I think the (admittedly sparse) criticism it's received is undeserved. True, it was a complete 180 for
MI, but it was a 180 that was necessary for the series to progress. And the game's friggin' hilarious.
EfMI is a more controversial issue, but still a well-made and highly creative game overall (not sure if Alistair has played it, but I wonder what he'd have to say about the stereotypical portrayal of Australians in that game

).
I ripped most of the music several years ago using...SCUMM Revisited, I think it was. It's still on my hard drive, surprisingly enough mostly in high-quality WAV form. Lots of good pieces, too, starting from the classic theme and including variations on the act screen, the Plunder Island themes, the Barbery Coast themes, the Blood Island ambient tracks...A very memorable soundtrack overall. Been a while since I last played it, but I intend to correct that mistake soon enough.
Monkey Island music, though, is a whole other topic and I could go on about it for much longer than two paragraphs; I'll spare you all the torment though.