First, is it possible that "new" describes the condition? It could be a never played copy from the original release.

As for if it's a good album... a lot of fans think it's the best of his 80s solo albums. Personally, I don't like it as well as his other two albums, but I do like it.

As for the songs, to be honest, when I got the album, I thought "Ever Since The World Began" was the only one that sounded like a Tommy Shaw song. I do think they are good songs though, just different from what I expected from Tommy. He does get a writing credit on all the songs on the album except that one, and one of them is a sole writing credit (no co-writer).