In regards to Portnoy - not really, it wouldn't be interesting as I doubt that's his style at all. Every critique is legit, but considering how he joined the "ADTOE is exactly the same as I&W" camp a few years ago, I bet he would share those pictures flying around with the cover of The Astonishing that has the author name replaced with "Walt Disney" if he could.
People who complain about the fadeout on new beginning can blame themselves if they buy CD's rather than digital copies.
If everyone switched to digital we would not have the time limitation problem. Also as soon as the mastering was done we could download it.
As it is the people who buy CD's are making everyone wait for them to have them manufactured.
What does a fade out on a song that is not the final song on either disc have to do with buying CD's, time limitations, or how long you have to wait for an album?
I highly doubt they'd just cut a song short with a fade out if they tried to trim the fats for a CD release. They'd just make the song shorter and end it properly if that was the reason, this is the longest song on the album anyways. The fadeout clearly happens because they transition from a very groovy, upbeat song and solo section to a dramatic breakdown and this is one great way to handle it - and it's not unprecedented by DT, either.
Also, CD's are not going away anytime soon, buddy, no need to be so hostile to people who prefer them or whatever drives them to get them over digital downloads. I live in a country where virtually every streaming or digital music service except for iTunes has not been enabled in yet, and I don't have an iDevice so for the most part the choice is clear. Also, no other DT album except for maybe SFAM and Octavarium ever needed a booklet as much as this one does.