The tempo is pure drama, and with its reverb-heavy atmospherics, lilting acoustic guitars, and narrative structure that offers a series of exchanged letters, it falters under its weight. Ultimately, though, that's a small complaint for such an ambitious project. For the most part, these guys have a solid sense of their strengths as a band, and it must be said that Queensrÿche keep the preaching to a minimum while still managing to relate hard truth in a populist way. This is a very fine album that takes on a very hot and noteworthy — as well as timeless — topic that no one else has had the guts to take on in such a grand scale thus far.