I'm amazed it takes so long to release an album in this day and age. They finished recording it weeks ago (I understand there is mastering), and we no longer live in an era where a label has to coordinate the release of physical media world-wide.
Part of me can't help but think it's a conscious delay to coincide with the NA tour, while also allowing it to be different enough from the European tour where they can go back and get fans for a second viewing.
It's an interesting (and somewhat paradoxical) sign of the times–everything, and I mean everything about writing/recording/touring in the '70s was more difficult and time consuming. From cutting tape to setting up a stage to pressing the freaking vinyl to everything in between, making music was by no means 'easy,' yet bands churned out albums at warp speed.
Today, with digital recording/distribution, you'd like to think that the time between humming a melody in the shower to a fan listening to said melody in their car would be exponentially shorter, but all of our modern trappings have certainly not had that effect.
That's not to say it's good or bad, and I am certainly not a 'back in the day' sort of person, but the fact remains that musicians work on much longer timetable in 2024 than they did in 1974.
That all said, I'm happy to way. DT has earned the right to do whatever they want at whatever pace they want. While I suspect that any delays or protracted schedule issues are more related to logistical issues outside of their control, I'm happy the band isn't 'rushing' what might be the most important album of the rest of their career.