Finally received my copy, after ordering from DeepDiscount almost a month ago.
I agree that this album is basically
Eye In The Sky Part II, to the point where some of the songs sound exceedingly familiar. In particular, "Prime Time" reminds me a lot of "Eye In The Sky" and "Ammonia Avenue" very much evokes "Silence & I". Overall, I'd say the album is about as good as
Eye - there's a few great songs and a few that are sort of forgettable. I like it a lot, and it will get repeated listens.
The surround mix is fantastic! As great as the
Eye 5.1 is, I think this is even better - I was grinning like an idiot when the intertwining acoustic guitars entered from the rears in "Prime Time". "Don't Answer Me" still has that 'wall of sound' effect despite the presence of discrete elements in the rear channels (acoustic guitar, backing vocals). "Pipeline" is another highlight with the synth melody isolated in the rears, and "Ammonia Avenue" is as dramatic as you'd expect with the orchestra all around the room.
However--as others have pointed out--there's something up with the fidelity. I'm not sure if the cause is the mixing or the mastering, but the whole album is much louder and brighter than
Eye In The Sky. I played them back-to-back and had to lower the volume considerably for
Ammonia Avenue.
"Prime Time" and "Eye In The Sky" feature similar arrangements, instruments, and overall length, yet one has much more headroom that the other - not sure why this is the case?
"Sirius/Eye In The Sky":
"Prime Time":
Going with a "9". I like the music and the surround mix is top-notch, but you might find yourself turning the volume down. I can't wait for
Turn and
I, Robot!