So, I've listened to the song a looooooot of times, and by that I mean A LOT, but I just didn't have the time to sit and write my thoughts here untill now, so here they are:
Love the sound and mix overall. The vocals and keyboards sounded buried to me at first, but I guess I've gotten used to it now. James' voice, as everyone else has said, has heavy processing/effects but that doesn't distract or bother me, they're intended to be there.
The guitar intro is pretty standard JP, but the haunting keyboard underneath it gives it a very nice and different feel to what we've seen before
Still not a big fan of the first verse, but the rest of the song works very well to me, the chorus is amazing and have been singing it all day, nice melody and lyrics. No complaints there at all.
That low JP riff at around 2:00 with Mangini playing half time on the hi hat is one of my favorite parts. Everytime I hear this section, I just go
The second verse and bridge sound a bit chaotic, like there's a lot going on, but I really like them anyway. Mike's cymbal work is a highlight there.
Very cool instrumental section. I was like
by the way MM played the starting fast unison using the two snares, very cool.
On the Inside Out instagram stories that featured short interviews with JP and JR, John said that he got really inspired by seeing all these crazy guitarists who came to teach at his guitar camp and that he went straight to record his solos after that. Well... he wasn't lying. HOLY GUITAR SOLOS, BATMAN. When you think JP can't improve his craft anymore, he comes up with this
Love how they didn't include any background guitars or keys during that harmonic run after the solos, it definitely helps with the raw and live feeling they wanted to get for the album. It sounded massive with just JM and MM supporting the rhythm.
Btw, something I noticed from the drum track is that the drums are mixed again from the drummer's perspective (meaning when he plays the left part of the kit, you hear it on the left side and viceversa) just like ADTOE and most, if not all, of MP era albums. In contrast, DT12, TA and the live albums from that era were mixed with the audience perspective (when he plays left side, you hear it on the right). As a drummer myself, I appreciate this a lot.