I absolutely loved it from the first listen. However, for me "Operetta" is not the proper closer for this album, it's the 17 minute epic "So That Love May Find Us," which is of course on the Pangaea ep, but it's also the last song on the vinyl version. I can't imagine a better way for them to end this wonderful album, but I'm sure STLMFU wasn't included on the CD edition because of time constraints.

I don't really understand what all the complaints about the mastering are all about. Overall the sound quality is far from perfect, but the mix in my opinion is excellent for this album: dreamy, soft, densely atmospheric - I think high-impact dynamics would have been detrimental to the mood of 23.