Two things:

1) NightenGail and I saw Lain #2 last night. It was even more excellent than the first which in most animes (and books even) isn't normally true. By the third or fourth episode on the disk they drop a lot of the weird stuff and get more into the storyline which is MUCH appreciated. And the storyline is excellent. Still rates a 4.5 to 5 out of 5.

2) Sonata Arctica was excellent on Century Media records, I am quite nervous to hear of them going to Nuclear Blast. Not to say that Nuclear Blast bands aren't quite good, just generally they are a different sound then what I consider Sonata Arctica. We'll just have to wait and see what this entails (Whether the label tries to steer their music).