I didn't like it much when I first heard it (back in July), but I recently gave it a spin again and my opinion has improved... a little.
- A Nightmare to Remember - Biggest letdown evar. It starts so incredibly strong, but just spirals ever downward as it continues on. The song is a little too long and feels bloated, the transitions are too abrupt and thus it feels disjointed at times, and the lyrics are terrible. The music is good, but still not enough to save this.
- A Rite of Passage - This was my favorite off the album at first. It seemed a bit more cohesive than most of the other songs and while the lyrics aren't great, they don't detract from the song at all. As I've listened to it more and more, the WTF solo really starts to drag it down.
- Wither - Didn't care for it at first, but I think it's my favorite now. Just a nice, simple little song.
- The Shattered Fortress - At first, I thought it was the worst song on the album (ANTR now takes that spot), but I've learned to appreciate it a little more. The transitions still feel a little forced and it still seems like there's too much of the old songs and not enough new song. It feels forcefully patched together, which is too bad because this has improved the most on re-listens.
- The Best of Times - Really good song. Some may say the lyrics are 'saccharine' but I give props to them for having a lot of heart. I think everyone really puts in a good effort here and it shows.
- The Count of Tuscany - My least favorite of DT's 'epics.' Some good musicmanship, but that's really it, there's not much guiding it here. The lyrics are laughably bad and, unfortunately, I end up focusing on them whenever I listen to this. It does get a little better each time I listen, but it doesn't hook my like Octavarium, ACoS, and ItPoE did.