Yeah. It took until Track 7 to get something worthy of the previous 2 records.
Hell's Kitchen, Peruvian Skies and Hollow Years are excellent tunes. Just my 2 cents.
In fact, aside from You Not Me (which is not terrible, but not very good either), I would say the whole album is excellent. It took a long time to grow on me, but I now consider it one of my Top 3 DT albums, along with Six Degrees and Awake.
Completely agree on the bolded part. I rank it a very close 4 just behind IaW, although recently I'd even consider it ranking it above that. Such a beautiful and underrated album, and there are many aspects which I don't believe DT ever topped it before or since.
Yup, it is definitely in the top 5, and it has been rising steadily for me.
I think to me it's maybe that, because DT has been becoming more and more settled into their signature sound, FII stands out more and more as an album with "fresh wind". I also agree with whoever said that DT's ballads aren't what they used to be. Particularly Take Away My Pain is probably my favorite DT ballad, because it is beautifully understated and has a sweet melancholy to it they never recaptured after that.