I thought for sure that I was going to give this one a '9' when I first heard it (in stereo) just because on my first listen-through, I didn't think that the content was as strong as "Hand. Cannot. Erase." but after several listens over several days, I have warmed up to the content more and more, even to the point that I went with a full '10' vote on this one.
The stand-out highlights for me definitely include the two new tracks with vocals, "My Book of Regrets" and "Happiness III". The former is a '10' alone thanks to a stellar guitar solo by Dave Kilminster. The first time I heard it, I could not believe it was him as it sounded so much like Guthrie Govan. It really blew me away and continues to amaze me with every subsequent listen. The song itself is one that grows on you quite a lot if you let it. It's definitely just as good as any of the longer songs on HCE.
The next track is a instrumental "Year of the Plague". It's a pleasant piece of music that was leftover from "The Raven That Refused to Sing" writing and recording sessions, but it won't blow you away by any means.
Then we're on to "Happiness III", otherwise known as 'pop tart' to Steven's musicians recording this one since it is very commercial-sounding. I like the song a lot, and it features a very nice guitar solo in the middle from Steven himself, which is good as lately he's been passing off solos to his other musicians, but while he may not be as technically gifted as the others, he has a nice style which works quite well in this song.
After that we have two more instrumentals, "Sunday Rain Sets In" and "Vermillioncore". On this mini-album, it seems like each subsequent instrumental is better than the one that preceded it. "Vermillioncore" in particular is really cool and sounds like a throwback to the more metal-oriented albums of his like "Insurgentes", "Fear of a Blank Planet", and "The Incident".
Finally, we're left with "Don't Hate Me", a re-recording of this Porcupine Tree song from the album "Stupid Dream", now reenvisioned as a duet between him and Ninet Tayeb, who also sang the female vocals on the "Hand. Cannot. Erase." album. Overall it's a successful re-recording except for Adam Holzman's keyboard solo right in the middle. Sometimes his solos are a bit too showy, and it doesn't fit the overall mood of the song. I much prefer Richard Barbieri's original solo, which was a lot more simple but fit better IMO. Other than that, it's hard to find fault with this re-recording of one of Steven's best songs.
There is also the "Lazarus" re-recording as a bonus, but this version is nothing new when compared to the original Porcupine Tree recording, and I prefer the original anyway.
This mini-album is definitely worth picking up on Blu-Ray disc ASAP, so get on it!