Review by Adam M on July 9, 2026.

This was a revolutionary album for the genre because it brought impeccable musicianship together with a penchant for reasonably good song-writing.  It is full of memorable songs and has the ability to be quite full of life and make its mark upon the listener.  The song “Pull Me Under” is a classic and there are several other worthy songs as well.

The musicianship on the album is very solid with good performances and a reasonable singing performance from James Labrie who has turned out to be one of the more annoying vocalists around.  The production is solid for this point in their career and the entire musical performance is worthwhile and good.

The problem I’m having with the disc is that it is not as memorable as their concept album Scenes From a Memory and has the ability to be somewhat lame in comparison to that work.  It is still phenomenal enough and a worthy entry to their catalogue with a seemingly before the time interest in combining musicianship with song writing.

In conclusion, this is a very solid album and has the ability to ingrain itself in your memory banks.  Fans of the band’s Awake album will find it quite interesting and worthwhile.  It is not as good as Scenes From a Memory, but still a good entry into their catalogue.  The consistency of the songs is good and there are some standout moments to be found on the disc.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10