Interestingly, I have had trouble as well getting into Vapor Trails, but I thourougly enjoyed the songs they played on it at the concert. Of course, I didn't fork out the cash to sit close and we were out in the cheap seats so I can't say what anything sound like closer, but I really enjoyed the show.

As for the CD's, I still have trouble listening to Vapor Trails all the way through, though TFE I love (though I didn't like it at all at first). Counterparts I liked a lot the first time around, all of which might be due to the observations in that interesing article.