To connect with PC's earlier post, I think the "Dream Theater songwriting machine" is sadly back to its usual grind. I have many years before stated the hypothesis that DT were at their best when they had something to prove. IAW, SFAM, ADTOE were all albums made at a time when a lot of people questioned the future of the band. So, they took chances, usually with positive results. But with DT12 that old complacency has crept back in, the one of BCSL and SC, where everything just blended into this blur.