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Take this review from someone who had never gotten a taste of Ayreon before this and won't pretend he is aware of what their previous releases sounded like. Now then….this is progressive metal. I think this is actually more prog than I can handle. So if you haven't really gone wet over progressive metal in the past, then you should stay away from this because it will annoy you.

I applaud the effort of this concept album and lyrically, it is truly a marvel. In short, the whole album is a breathtaking story about a guy in a hospital who just woke up from coma and the interactions that take place between him and his close ones and most particularly his own mind. Yeah…if that is blah blah blah to you then you have absolutely no reason to pick this up because musically it is not that enjoyable. Well, there are a few really good numbers here but the majority of songs are too slow and even atmospheric for my liking. I doubt even regular prog fans will enjoy this because there is still something missing from this album. One thing might be due to the fact that every song starts off really slow and most of them never really pick up much, focusing too much on ambience and atmosphere. Some cool riffs and tiny solos here and there but nothing spectacular.

Oh…and throw in some acclaimed musicians/vocalists from various bands; it does absolutely nothing to enhance the musical quality of the songs when the song-writing itself is at fault, not the musicianship. Keep away, but if you are a really big and really patient prog-nut, then you just might like it.