I've been listening to this album for over a week now, and I have to say it is the best album they have put out since Justice. Not comparing it TO Justice...just saying that it is a thousand times better than Black, Load/Reload, and St. Anger.
The biggest problem to me, like many older fans, is James voice. I couldn't put my finger on it and, like everybody else, I kept saying that he was trying to sing as opposed to growl. Well, I think I figured it out.
If you really go back and listen to the older stuff, Puppets, Lightning, Justice...he DOES sing. He doesn't just growl out the lyrics....he almost sounds the same. The problem lies in the vocal arrangements.
If you listen to the older stuff the vocals were very much blended with the music. He sang in the same rhythm as the rest of the music. The vocals and the music blended perfectly...it was almost like James was singing with the power chords. The beat and the vocals matched.
Flash forward and listen to this last album. The singing is the same, it's just that the vocals are much more pronounced...mainly because it doesn't match the music well at all. It's like he wrote the lyrics and the songs separately, and tried to blend them together after all the music tracks were laid down. You can hear places where he has to sing faster to keep up with the music and stretch out words at other points...just to keep the same rhythm. It just doesn't blend well together.
If you listen to the older stuff, the lyrics were written to fit the music, words were put together that enabled him to keep his vocals in the same rhythm. Now he tries to make the vocals fit after the fact....and it sounds awkward.
All in all this album is better than anything since Justice....it doesn't compare to anything before Justice...but those albums were classics and will NEVER be topped.
opcorn:
kids of today cant handle it. 
BUT in general comparing it to more modern bands its not bad. Honestly might go buy the cd.
