Letters from the Labyrinth [CD], Trans-Siberian Orchestra, CD

'Labyrinth' is TSO's first album of individual, unconnected songs, the 14-track set is knit together by the serious underpinning of the songs, whether it's the sweeping overview of humanity on 'Time & Distance', the concerns of world banking irregularities on 'Not Dead Yet', the anti-bullying message of 'Not The Same' (which O'Neill co-wrote with his daughter) or the learn-from-the-past studies of 'Prince Igor and 'King Rurik'. In some ways it's a straight ahead album, and in some ways it's not. It's blatantly out of the box more music-driven as opposed to story- and music-driven. The world is a mess right now, so 'Letters From the Labyrinth' examines some of the problems we're facing now. You can enjoy them as songs, but they're there to make you think.