Things I'd like to hear:
-Sounds similar to A Dramatic Turn of Events. I somehow loved how the album sounded, fresh feeling and no forced heaviness at all, but definitely heavy enough to rock hard.
I think Jordan's atmospheric pads and James' great backing vocals were a big part of creating the great 'airy' feeling on the album.
-JR using more of his iPad apps, Harpejji etc...
-A long epic
-Awesome piano moments
-Maybe some electronic sounding stuff
-No more than one ballad (I have nothing against them, but the ballads on ADTOE were so good that I don't think it's necessary to make many of them this time)
-No unneeded heaviness
Many people have been hoping for James to use his higher register more than he did on ADTOE. Personally I loved the vocals on ADTOE so much that I'm perfectly happy if he continues like that. I do like high male vocals, but I don't consider them mandatory. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's going to be an awesome album.