Received my copy today and absolutely love it! Top to bottom a flawless record and quite possibly his finest solo album yet. Fave tunes so far? All of them! The nine tunes flow perfectly and it's one of those rare records a) isn't too long and b) doesn't fizzle out. Also, one of the reasons I dig this man's work so much is because you can hear that he pays attention to every detail: the perfect arrangements, the top notch performances by all players and of course the sonic quality. Finally, it seeems to me he returns to his more melodic roots, something I've already noticed on "All's Well That Ends Well".http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927377#msg-927377Thu, 23 May 2013 01:57:43 +1000 Phorum 5.2.16 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927493#msg-927493 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927493#msg-927493 Andrew NoticeboardSun, 20 Jan 2013 20:10:03 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927483#msg-927483 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927483#msg-927483
As a longtime fan I am of his band and his solo work, I feel I must say both: the good and the not so good. IMHO, though the single is SUPERB, the album is just OK.

For instance, the song "Last Man Standing" has a great verse, but the chorus is just LAME. Very unimaginative. Same goes with "Once again". The "When I look in your eyes" moment is so cliched that it is really embarrassing. Some keys sound also a bit outdated or unnatural to my ears ("Judgment Day" bridge, for instance)

Overall, the album has a little bit of everything: it has great moments, it has not so great moments, and also dull moments. Apart from all this, the production is immense, it has great riffs here and there and it's quite an enjoyable listening from start to finish.

On a side note, I'd like to add that I really miss the "fire" on Luke's guitar solos in all of his last few albums (either solo or with TOTO). It's been QUITE a while since I last heard a GREAT melodic solo from him. He's still one hell of a player, don't misunderstand me. But lately, all of his solos sound improvised, not builded up. So I really MISS this: that landmark style that made him great.]]> St.George NoticeboardSun, 20 Jan 2013 14:28:54 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927470#msg-927470 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927470#msg-927470 RAMSAY NoticeboardSun, 20 Jan 2013 10:26:58 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927469#msg-927469 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927469#msg-927469 Andrew NoticeboardSun, 20 Jan 2013 10:19:59 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927398#msg-927398 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927398#msg-927398 Terry K. NoticeboardSun, 20 Jan 2013 01:59:33 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927390#msg-927390 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927390#msg-927390 totobob NoticeboardSun, 20 Jan 2013 00:50:47 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927382#msg-927382 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927382#msg-927382
Transition is still great and the Dream Theater as-done-by-Luke on the title track is absolutely superb. Not a bad song on the album to be sure, but something about All's Well.. just captivates me and draws me in more. Which is also the opposite of Transition because it took a while to get into that one.

I'll be interested to read Andrew's review and how he feels about it, particularly in comparison to All's Well.. as I bought that one on the strength of his review.]]> RAMSAY NoticeboardSun, 20 Jan 2013 00:10:46 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927377#msg-927377 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,927377,927377#msg-927377 Peter M. Bietenholz NoticeboardSat, 19 Jan 2013 23:22:33 +1100