I sort of know what you mean. I'm cooler on the record than most - it's in the lower tier. That's still a good tier, sits with Awake and Black Clouds & Silver Linings, but I think the problem is I'm not that hot on the concept. It's neat, but it's not something I hold particularly close to me, and it doesn't elevate the album any. The lyrics are a bit prosaic, it's iffy.
But then, I'm a little cool on concept albums altogether. I think I like an album to be an anthology - my favourite albums are Images and Words, Octavarium, and Dream Theater (not in that order). Lots of songs telling lots of self-contained stories, fairly diverse, with a focus on songwriting. I think music is a great format to tell a short story, a little meditation, but if an album wants to tell one big story, it'd better be a pretty badass narrative to justify dwelling on it for a full hour. SfaM isn't that story for me.
There is loads of good music. I love Strange Deja Vu. (And the visuals on the latest tour bring it to life!) I love Fatal Tragedy. I love Beyond This Life, The Spirit Carries On and Finally Free - although I wish FF didn't have the BBC Radio 4 Comedy Theatre bit at the end. Funnily, I think the hypnotherapist voice adds something. I like "Now it is time to see how you died. Remember that death is not the end, but only a transition." That's a great way to end a song, if it were up to me every song would end like that. I like the way Regression mirrors The Spirit Carries On, too, it's a great intro. But I think, for all that Fatal Tragedy might be the perfect DT short-form rocker, I could've liked it more if JM's last lyrics of the 20th century had been a bit more than exposition.
Musical continuity is a different story, mind. I love musical continuity. But that's probably because it still works out of context. The keyboard break in the middle of Learning to Live works a treat on its own, but it's even better on the heels of Wait for Sleep. The effect is always, always either greater than the sum of its parts or equal to it. I think I give Six Degrees Disc 2 a much easier ride, because that is more of an anthology. The lyrics are related, but distinct, and the musical reprises are gorgeous.
SfaM, in fairness, has that, and it's triumphant - but in the end, the songs just don't do as much for me as the rest of DT's catalogue. SfaM's solid, but for me, it's rarely incredible. I don't think I'd change it, though. It's a big album for a lot of people. It's their second breakthrough. Massive, and important, and phenomenal, and I always have a good time with it. Praise be.