Symphony X - The Odyssey (2002)

I've been finding this one tough to get into. Symphony X has become steadily more progressive as their career has gone on, which makes it necessary to have more and more concerted listens to really take in what they're doing. Maybe I haven't done that enough with The Odyssey yet, so I'll say there's a lot of good stuff here I'm yet to discover.
The length doesn't help, of course. At almost seventy minutes, it's quite the long haul, made to seem all the longer by the twenty-four minute, seven-part title track that finishes the record. I like the orchestral parts in this, and maybe it could have been easier to enjoy if there hadn't been so much that had gone on before it. I love Jethro Tull's THICK AS A BRICK, but it's just one forty minute song, nothing else.
I don't like saying I'm not a fan of progressive rock/metal, and just prefer 'simplistic' music. I'd like to think I can appreciate complex works like this, but maybe I don't put enough work into them. Maybe I cast the net too wide and try to listen to too much.
Or maybe I am simplistic in my musical tastes. :-|

***1/2