I'd have to rank it second-to-last among all Strato albums (above Fright Night) but only because I enjoy the others; I think the self-titled is underrated on its own terms. Back to Madness was a nice experimental song at a time when TT really began experimenting with putting out the same 10 songs every other year. The last three songs (Land of Ice and Snow, Leave the Tribe, United) are some of my favorite in the whole discography, and part of me wishes at least one of them was brought back for a few shows like 4000 Rainy Nights from last year or The Hands of Time from a few years before that. The production sounds nice and clean even by Strato standards (feel free to tell me why I'm wrong). My only criticisms other than "doesn't sound like a Stratovarius album" are the anticlimactic buildups in Just Carry On and Gypsy in Me, where the chorus doesn't quite have the payoff that the verses set up, and the fact that despite being only 47 minutes long, certain sections of the album feel overly long and arduous, most notably in Back to Madness and Zenith of Power where the songs never seem to end. The only song that gives me more of a "please end already" feeling than those two songs is Mother Gaia from Infinite.
Thoughts?
I do give it some points for its aggressive verses, though. The only reason it's not the absolute worst is because Know the Difference exists and miraculously has an even worse chorus (and definitely worse verses). 
Okay, time for my scathing review...
From a songwriting perspective, it's vapid and, as you say, simple. In fact, it's too simple for me. Another factor is that when I hear it, it doesn't make me think "Stratovarius". It sounds like Stratovarius performing a cover of a different band. It is comparable to Break the Ice (and to a lesser extent, Reign of Terror), in several ways. The difference there is that Break the Ice is actually good. Basically, every element is more interesting than on Maniac Dance. With its massive emphasis on the blues scale & structure, Maniac Dance sounds like a song that could've been written by any number of the Metallica clones that sprung up in the 90's. I do have to give props to Tolkki during the solo, though. He somehow managed to make it completely devoid of any of the typical Tolkki solo tropes. It's perhaps his most bluesy solo ever. It reminds me of the solos that glam metal bands would perform back in the 80's.
Of course they don't though. The people who listen to the songs by artists in the billboard top 200 don't care for actual quality; they merely care about trendiness and other pop culture bullshit. 
They're probably the same kind of people who follow celebrities on social media, but I digress. 
but including all this shit, all want take the U.S market. This is sick. 
