The X Aspect is one of DT finest moments. I believe that.
I agree. And I just adore the run from Ravenskill through The X Aspect. That run of songs alone lifts the entire album for me.
And I like your playlist. It isn't exactly what I would have chosen, but it's pretty nice as an abbreviated song list.
Any little nitpicks I have of the album can be summed up this way:
Act 1 is pretty much perfect from my perspective, with one exception: I still just don't feel the impact of the war and the GNE's oppression of the people, notwithstanding some things that are said about it in the first few tracks. I know the focus of the album is on how the conflict impacted and was impacted by the two families that make up the character list. But, for me, it would have more of an impact if the stakes for everyone else were given more weight, and I wish they dedicated a song to that aspect.
Act 2 starts incredibly strong with 2285 Entr/acte into Moment of Betrayal. But then I feel like it just meanders from Heaven's Cove through Whispers on the Wind. I wish this could be tightened up a bit. And one of the few times I find it hard to resist being deferential to artistic choice is the choice of samples for the crying when Faythe dies. To me, it is so distracting that it sucks out any potential emotional impact of her apparent death.
I know that extending Act 1 and trimming Act 2 would exacerbate what I already perceive to be an imbalanced album where Act 1 has a lot going on, but needs more, and Act 2 has a lot of songs that don't cover much territory. But that could also be remedies by altering the structure to make it a 3 act production rather than 2 acts. Have Act 1 introduce the characters and conflict (as it does), and end with A life Left Behind (with something inserted that deals better with the war). Act 2 escalates the conflict with Ravenskill through Moment of Betrayal. And keep Entr'Acte because it is a pretty cool instrumental, but for obvious reasons, change the title since it would no longer be an "entr-acte." Then the resolution comes in Act 3 with something of a trimmed down Heaven's Cove through Astonishing.
That's my personal wish list. But as with anything, I respect and enjoy what they actually did, so I hope my words aren't taken as being overly critical.