If I recall, my initial feelings were mixed. I liked ANTR, AROP, and Wither pretty well from the outset. I really didn't like TSF at all at first, and TBOT was (and remains) a very big letdown for me. By the time I reached TCoT, I was more or less satisfied, but not really excited about much of anything on the album. However, hearing The Count of Tuscany for the first time was indescribable. I was very, very pleased with this song and ending the album on such a high note considerably inflated my opinion of it as a whole for a while, I think.
Now, I rank the album near the middle of DT's discography. ANTR drags during the solo sections. AROP and Wither are decent, but not that interesting after several listens. TSF's second guitar solo is awesome, but that's the only thing I really take away from it. TBOT is all right musically, but I cannot get past the lyrics, which is rare for me. It's too bad it had to happen with this song, given its obvious importance to Portnoy. I maintain that TCoT is a great song overall, definitely in my DT top 20. But the verses and chorus are the weakest part of the track IMO, and while they were fun at first, haven't aged as well as the rest.
Still a solid album, even though I just got done listing all of my gripes with it. I expect that DT's future releases will be around the same level of quality.
-J