 Mitch Joel from Blistering commended the band 's musical diversity , noting that they are " worth more than most of their peers on a song @-@ by @-@ song magnitude . " Elizabeth Bromstein of Now magazine found the track @-@ to @-@ track variation limited , although she appreciated the range of styles . Peter Relic of Rolling Stone gave a mixed response , stating that the album has its finer moments but felt that it is undone by Jared Leto 's " baffling , pretentious poetry " and the " sanitized quality of the heavy guitars . Q magazine described it as having " a polished sheen " , but opined that the " earnest , sci @-@ fi @-@ tinged lyrics gets monotonous " over the course of the album . In contrast , Jason D. Taylor from AllMusic commented that the " space @-@ age themes compliment the group 's advanced musical achievements wonderfully " . Megan O 'Toole of The Gazette felt that every track on the album is a " unique masterpiece that simultaneously operates on a number of different musical and spiritual levels " , writing that its music has the potential to " affect and infect the deepest recesses " of the soul . 
