Ha ha. The old "If I had their studio, musicians, etc..." but you are correct. There is no way to compete at that level but we try!
I think you do great with all of your work. I think I have said it to you many many times. Since you are started a serious project, I hope you can hear that some fullness and body might be slightly missing. That's my main point. The only way to show you is to offer up something I think sounds bigger and fatter.
For the modern day sound you want, no question that today there are much more high end, compressed, and edgy tones compared to the past. I think overall, rock and roll has suffered with the "new" sound. I also think that acoustic instruments and songs not centered around distorted guitars is better now.
Regardless, so many listeners in this forum seem to listen on the laptops and earbuds so what I am saying may not mean much to them. When someone listens with a drastically reduced frequency response and says it sounds good, then how do you mix to that?
Anyway, all the best bat. Your music goes places I can only dream of.