I've listened to this album several times over the past couple weeks. I enjoyed it quite a bit on my first listen but with every subsequent listen I find another thing I dislike about it. Some of those things have been stated already.
First, It doesn't live up to the hype. This is not the genre-defining prog masterpiece that DS and MP have boasted about.
Instead this is what you get:
This is a generic hard rock album with some proggy instrumental stuff in between. It's dad rock written by wannabe toughtguys who have an idea of what "tough bands" write, but none of them have actually BEEN in a "tough band". It sounds like it wants to be everything else than original. If you think this album redefines a genre - man, you can't have heard much of the genre...
I couldn't have said it better myself. I previously stated that Coming Home sounded like Adrenaline Mob with Keyboards, and I think statement is true for a lot of the heavier moments on this album.
I don't dislike it because it's not prog, I dislike it because it's uninspired, unmemorable, and dare I say, unnecessary. I don't think it's a coincidence that this came out after DT's The Astonishing. The Astonishing was definitely lacking in terms of heavy tracks, and I think this album was written in response to that (as evidenced by Derek's tweets). It was written to appeal to those fans who are fans of the heavier side of DT. The thing is, they try too hard to make this a heavy album and to me it feels very forced. The other problem is, as others have said before, even though you have 4 extremely talented musicians and a great singer, you don't have a real songwriter in the band. And the album suffers because of that.
As many times as I've listened to it, the only riff that I find memorable is the main riff to Signs of the Time, and that's only because it's a rip off of Roots Bloody Roots - Sepultura. The rest of the songs don't have any real memorable riffs or melodies. And the riffs and melodies that are there, to me, sound uninspired and quickly thrown together. Almost like this album was written in a little over a week. Hmmm..
On that note, the line "Cuz I'm coming home" from Coming Home sounds EXACTLY the same as the line "Cuz I am alive" from Alive.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m6c2qtechpghyo4/Untitled.wav?dl=0I also have to mention the track "Figaro's Whore". In addition to being a stupid name, it's a totally unnecessary track. It's like Eddie Van Halen's Eruption, but for keyboards. It's a minute-long organ solo by Derek with some accented notes from the other guys, but it's neither melodically nor rhythmically interesting. We already know Derek can shred a keyboard. His previous solos on the album prove that. We don't need a solo track to prove that further. This track is pointless.
JSS is wasted on this album. I believe he can be a great vocalist in the right setting, but this isn't it.
As others have said, Bumblefoot shines on this album. To me he's the MVP of this album. I'm definitely gonna check out some of his solo work. He has some very cool solos on this album, but as I said, most of the main riffs are very bland.
Billy Sheehan, surprisingly, plays the role of a bassist on this album. I was initially disappointed to hear that he would be a part of this, but he manages to restrain himself and play for the song.
MP is a great drummer, I will not deny that, but he doesn't do anything new or creative on this album. He's using the same fills he's been using for the last 10 years or so. Nothing surprises me.
Derek is also on this album.
I didn't mean for this to turn into a full review. That's all I've got to say about this disappointing project.