I love the new album, but I miss Joey being the primary songwriter. Nothing against the guys or this new album but I do sort of miss the feel of NTFP and Cities.
Agreed, the new album is way better than NS but its gotta be the song writing of Christian that is making Anberlin just not as catchy as they once were with those two amazing records you speak of. On another note of interview, Stephen was so right when he called NS a compilation album.
I agree about New Surrender, the album has some great songs on it, but the mood and overall arc of the album was inconsistent, especially when compared to Cities, which I think nailed it perfectly.