Hypersonic - like the first 2:46 of it, which all seems to flow really well, it then just degenerates into noodling territory for me. Petrucci’s melodic solo is ok but the rest isn’t for me.
Beating The Odds - solid instrumental with some really nice melodic Petrucci moments.
Liquid Evolution - very nice little interlude, very Satriani-esque.
The Passage Of Time - Really good, some of the intense riffing of Hypersonic with the more structured feel of Beating The Odds. Nice melodic passages from Petrucci and Rudess with some noodling (it is LTE after all) but never ruins the flow of the song.
Chris and Kevin’s Amazing Odyssey - never been into any of these and this is no different. It’s probably the most listenable one they’ve done though.
Rhapsody In Blue - haven’t changed my opinion that this should have been a fun bonus track rather than taking up 12-13 min of the album. It was something that I used to always skip on the 2008 live releases and will probably end up being the same on this. I can see that there is some great playing in this and can see why they may do it as a fun live showcase but not on their long awaited new album. Just my opinion though.
Shades Of Hope - yawn. I was listening to this wondering why I could pretty much guess every note Petrucci was going to play before he played it and then realised that he was basically just playing a duller version of The Best Of Times.
Key To The Imagination - I can see this eventually becoming my favourite on the album. I still keep drifting off in the middle of it but some awesome riffs and solos and genuine goosebump inducing melodies from Petrucci.
Overall then, similar to all LTE records, it’s up and down but I don’t think it’s ups are quite on the level of the other two albums. It’s a bit similar to the Transatlantic album to me in that it’s a decent effort and I’m enjoying it but doesn’t quite recapture the magic of the old albums. I can see some on here suggesting it’s better than anything DT have done, post Portnoy. Not for me, not even close. I am someone who would quite like a Portnoy return for nostalgia reasons and because he was a founder member of the band but this album doesn’t really add to the argument one way or the other. I actually enjoyed the chemistry between Petrucci and Portnoy more on his solo album last year.
I haven’t given the jams too much attention yet, just kind of background listens but it does sound like there’s some really good stuff in there which may elevate this album a bit more.