Ben,
I have played both courses; in fact, I live in Denver and CG is my home course.
I don't mean to suggest there isn't great movement in the greens at BN and CG--there is, more so at BN, obviously. What I see from Doak, though, is much more of an acknowledgment of his influences--namely, classic golf courses--than was the case with Van Halen in musical terms.
Frankly, I see VH as a little schlocky. Maybe I don't know their music well enough, but it seems to me they aren't like Jimi Hendrix or the Rolling Stones who took their blues influences and then created something that simultaneously was instantly recognizable as borrowing from the past, but was also something totally new. That's what I see Doak doing with courses like Pacific Dunes and Ballyneal.
The person in music in whom I see some similarities to Doak is Jeff Tweedy of Wilco--both Doak and Tweedy are highly intelligent, know pretty much exactly what they want, tend to be very opinionated and are steeped in things from the past that relate to their work (in Doak's case, links and other classic golf courses; in Tweedy's, roots music).
What this may mean, though, is simply that I like Wilco and you like Van Halen. We both seem to like Doak's work.