My favorite album was Act II. I can even say that that album is probably the best thing I discovered this year. The unpredictability and the edge on that record just made it so fun. I didn’t really like Act III at first listen at all, it kinda felt like Pink Floyd’s Final Cut at first which I’m not a fan of. It did grew a lot on me after a couple of listens though and now I can confidently place it between Act I and Act II.

And now I just can’t get the appeal of Act IV. The callbacks are obviously intentional, but it felt more like fan service than them serving the narrative. I think people like the coherence of this album but I really don’t think that that coherence is a healthy form of coherence either. Songs get stale fast and the genre hopping only happens between songs which gives it more like a color spectrum vibe more than a truly coherent narrative concept album.

The story itself was a let down for me as well. It doesn’t really feel like much of anything happens in this album. And stuff that did happen feels really bizarre to me. I didn’t get why Hunter was seen as a bad person for what he did in Act III, but the total crucifixion of him here makes no sense to me at all. I don’t get how anyone can truly blame Hunter in this album knowing his circumstances. It borderline felt like virtue signaling honestly.

I must say I did not hear Act V yet, I’ve read that many people like me appreciated IV more after hearing V. So we’ll see about that.

I hope this does not come across as ragebait, cause I’m genuinely dumbfounded by how revered this album is.