Here's my review:
A Nightmare To Remember: The first half of the song is spot on. Heavy riffs and great melodies are present throughout. I especially like the "peaceful sedation" section. The instrumental section unfortunately drags on for a while, and that's just about the only gripe I have with this song. I don't even mind MP's vocals that much. It has a cool groove to it. Oh, and mp can has blast beetz. Rating - 7.8/10
A Rite Of Passage: I probably like this song more than most people. The chorus is awesome, to say the least; and the instrumental section of AROP is one of the best they've done in my opinion. The bebot solo is completely ridiculous, but I like it somehow. This is going to be a great live song. Can't wait to hear it. Rating - 8.2/10
Wither: This one took me by complete surprise. Wither has (ironically) the best lyrics on the album, which I feel the whole album is lacking slightly. The melodies here are fantastic, making it one of DT's best ballads. The highlight of the song is definitely the part where it's just James singing with JR playing piano (and the proceeding solo). Rating - 8.4/10
The Shattered Fortress: I really don't know what to say about TSF. It serves as a fantastic conclusion to the Twelve Step Suite, but as a stand-alone song it just doesn't do it for me. I was a little disappointed that there's a lot of cut-and-paste, but I can probably look past it. I'll give this song another month of listening and I'll review it again. Rating - 7.6/10
The Best Of Times: The fastest 10:00+ song in DT's entire discography. It actually feels like one coherent song (no long instrumental sections). The first half of the song is nice and happy, reminiscing of the times MP had with his dad. The second half is much more melancholy, talking about MP dealing with him dealing with his death and such. What follows is one JP's best solos he's ever done. Some people are complaining that the lyrics are bad, and I have no idea what they're talking about. This is a personal song, it wouldn't make sense to have lyrics that have to be rigorously interpreted to figure out the meaning. Rating - 9.6/10
The Count Of Tuscany: The opening instrumental portion is great, and reminded me of Rush for some reason. Then, the lyrics. Yes, they're hilariously bad, but they're so hilariously bad that it makes the song that much more awesome. We then move into the Pink Floyd section (by the way people, that's a guitar with a volume pedal, not a continuum), followed by the much talked about climax, which is very well delivered by James. A satisfying conclusion to a great album. Rating - 9.3/10
Final Rating (average) - 8.5
Definitely their best since Six Degrees.