Indeed, Ponti, that's amazing.
Well, here are my mpressions of the songs:
Eden - an extremely elating, Voyagers-like song, with a certain sense of festival in it. One of the best in the album.
Sandpiper - starts out like Serenato, but overall I still opt for Dreamcatcher as a closer relative.
The strings bridge may or may not be the development of Lotus ideas. But my fave parts are the second part of the verse and the refrain.
Magia - no comments. We've discussed it back in February, and it's in my Kalafina top 5.
Kugatsu - sounds less like Intermezzo now (especially with Kotonoha taking the cake
), but really good indeed. The chorus' sudden entrance in the bridge is a tweak I really like in Yuki's music.
The refrain also gets its points.
In Your Eyes - wow.
Its playful atmosphere
and Arabian-flavoured bridge arrangement puts it close to Te to Te to Me to Me, but that song was very Eastern, while this one evokes some vague tropic beach rockout impression...
Will be credited for novelty for now, since I can't recall any other song by Yuki that would carry such a "summer disco hit" feeling with it.
Destination Unknown - probably THE best new song. While Yuki indulged in writing rockers before (Mata Kaze ga, Magia, plus older songs like Edge and Tasogare no Umi kinda fit, too), this one features one of the more awesome guitar solos, coupled with powerful (if repetitive to some's tastes) melody and fitting chorus.
Neverending - A travel song impression, but not like Eden or Voyagers which make you imagine a flight at high speed, seeing everything from a bird's view. Rather a road trip song, like moving along the road in the plains in a horse-driven cab. Not as elating as Hikari no Senritsu, but could be its "little sister" to a degree.
Kotonoha - very Intermezzo-like, indeed. Too bad it STILL features only one refrain, so the extension is not too big. Sounds sweet and melancholic, although if I were to choose between this and Intermezzo, I'd pick the latter.
BTW, what does the title mean? I desperately need to shake off the only other "-noha" ending word (or, rather, NAME) I know, because it keeps popping up to mind whenever I listen to the song.
Magnolia - wins the Troll Title of the Album award.
I suspect most, if not all, expected a ballad. I've been trolled twice, since the sample made me think it's close to Fantasia. Now I fail to compare. Love Come Down sounded brave and defiant, Magia sounded ominous and dooming, Kyrie sounded downright tragic and Fantasia was like a trip to a chaotic, but passionate dream. Magnolia, much due to its arrangement, sounds like something from an action move or a fighting game. And once this impression is up, it occurs to me that flowers are sometimes used as a symbol of vendetta/feud. Coupled with Eastern flavours, this song sounds almost like a [female?] assassin theme to me.
Maybe the lyrics translation will smash my POV, we'll see.
I'm not sure how to rank it yet, but it's anything but forgettable to me. Oh, and bonus points for the second best guitar solo in the album (the bronze medal goes to Magia).
Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa - nothingnew to say about it either. A beautiful song, fitting the album, although in the vicinity of its own single it's still outmatched by Adore for me.
Mune no Yukue - after it was clarified that TLK OST impression comes from parallels with the chorus in Circle of Life, I was close to agreeing... But the verse melody smashed this. I can only call it African if we agree to add "American" - this is totally soul/gospel/whatever-such-songs-are-classified-as to me.
May or may not hail to old Saeko Chiba times a bit, but it's a
highly YMMV case. Not that similar to I Have a Dream, but goes, as Grunty noted, in the same direction. One of the freshest and best songs here, with the grand prix going not even to the refrain but to Wakana's bridge.
The refrain is awesome as well, of course. I want to check the lyrics ASAP since I can't make out the English quite clearly (although it sounds more like "rhythm" than "river" to me
).
Snow Falling - same as before, a nice song that grows into an Seventh-Heaven-ly EPIC one in the second half. Worh the KnK name.
Symphonia - a grand finale. As epic as before, but nothing to add to my comments on the RHH2 version. One more verse, a more defined guitar backgound. All blends in just like that.
New songs approximate ranking -
a friggin' fanboy's Nick Hunter's edition:
- Destination Unknown
- Eden, Mune no Yukue, Sandpiper, Symphonia (if we count it as new)
- Kugatsu, Magnolia, Neverending
- In Your Eyes, Kotonoha
A total of three definite surprises for me (In Your Eyes, Mune no Yukue, Magnolia), Eden may or may not count as one because I never knew what to expect from that title to begin with.
Overall, can't put it higher or lower than the previous two albums - it's just the level I expected from a Kalafina record. Seventh Heaven and Red Moon had its share of unusual songs as well.
Am I happy with this one?
You bet. 
And I'm not afraid to fall prey to Grunty's irony for this.
