I think all four of you went into this with the wrong mindset. This album is supposed to be appreciated for both its musical AND theatrical aspects. John Petrucci even said himself that "Right from the beginning, we talked about all the various incarnations of this — the story, the two-act album, presenting this as a standalone live show, and then even other things beyond that that it can turn into, whether it be a book or a game or a movie, etc." (from Blabbermouth.net). In my opinion, you are looking at this album from a very closed-minded perspective. You can't just sit there and tell me that songs such as "The Answer" and "Chosen" are not beautiful pieces. In fact, they had me in tears when I saw them live a couple weeks ago. The musicianship is anything but "sterile." In fact, most musical passages in this album break the molds of modern day pop and are extremely creative and innovative (hence the term PROGRESSIVE). It is quite evident that you are much more interested in making fun of little details in the album rather examining the beauty of it as a whole. Commentators like you who place more value in music that you can "dance to" or "fist-pump to" aren't qualified to be reviewing something like this, which is obviously not intended for such a purpose. I hope Katy Perry releases a new record real soon so that you all have something to fawn over. Until then, leave the real music to the real critics.

Lol

This music may be too complex for many. I suggest a strong simple ac/dc type band is what most
People without any real musical knowledge can handle. It may be to busy and not make sense like watching ice hokey for the first time.

What a pointless review! Reads like a bunch of eight graders wrote this after their first bong. No, I apologize, eight graders would have done a better job.