I had a Pliney the Elder draft the other day at my local, and Dear Mother of Goodness was that particular pour balanced. Its not always that way, but this time the taste profile was this huge perfect TOWERING smooth bell curve. It was magnificent. Bitter had nothing to do with it, and as we know its one of the most hopped beers of all beers. (One of my LHBS guys makes fun of people who make Pliney clones something about lemmings.)
But I have a well worn anecdote: My roommate in college worked at this top Audiophile shop in Beverly Hills. One day I was there and we were in this room cranking a ~$350K system, and I turned to my friend and said something BUT I could not hear my own voice. Nothing came out. It was startling, creepy, still gives me goose bumps. The thing is, what we commonly think of as loud or too loud is actually distortion not volume.
THAT is how I think of great West Coast IPAs: Imperial, Double, ..whatever. Many are too bitter, even bordering on stupid, but when its right, it is transcendent!
Pliney the Younger uses 6 varieties. I believe the Elder uses 5. So youre in good company, but the number of varieties isnt the dealio: its that intricate and elusive balance.
But since even Russian River cant get it right every time, we should be somewhat consoled if we cant.
It seems to me sometimes you don't want to pick out individual hop flavors.