VERY good album. Quite different. Major props to JP!
8/10
Well, I didn't think you would rate it that high. Actually, higher than me for that matter. OK, as this is thet thread dedicated to our reviews of TA, will copy-paste what I wrote in the other thread. Of course, my opinion might chhange after multipe listens :
Act 1 :
Down : too many tracks beginning with piano, making them too samey
the drum sound still bothers me
where is JM (as far as creativity is concerned)?
Up : some really nice melodies in there
JLB is really good and has a lot to sing (paradoxically, I sometime found he had too much to sing)
many new things never heard before in a DT album
Stand out tracks : The Gift of Music, Lord Nafaryus, A Savior in the Square, Three Days, The X Aspect, A New Beginning
Act 2 : Better for me than Act 1, but it might change. Otherwise, it confirms my initial impressions : too much piano-driven tracks and too many slow (for lack of a better word) tracks. A lot of new things explored but also some things heard before in their catalogue. Ja mes is really really good and it is really his album, more so than Rudess's in my opinion. Frankly, no guitar solo has really grabbed my ear so far.
Stand out tracks : Moment of Betrayal, The Path that Divides, Our New World (OMG! What a treat! Much too short anyways), Astonishing
All in all, kuddos to the guys for having tried something like that so late in their career. May not be their best album, but it's really a great effort to expand theit musical universe.
B.Lee