OK - here's the dealeo ya'll:
I LOVE all three pieces of work! I&W is classic and I admire a progressive metal band using a saxophone in their defining album. But Awake seemed "forced" to me, so much so, that fans thought they replaced the singer. I think it was MP who said that you have your entire life to record your first album but after that.....(I can't remember what the rest of the quote was).
FII - I think that DS is an awesome keyboardist but he has even said that he thinks of himself as a guitarist on keyboards so I don't think that's what JP or even MP had in mind for the long term vision of DT. I think they wanted more of the soundscape that JR could provide. Besides, I always thought that DS was a pretty cocky individual and I think he is still butt hurt from being let go from the band and still shows it.
Regardless of my personal feelings, I think Awake and FII fall short of what I think of the very definition of what Dream Theater is as a band.
I get where you are coming from, even if I don't agree. But for me, it's so hard to pick a "least favorite 3-album run" anyway. Even though they have occasionally done some things I didn't much care for, I don't dislike any albums. And even the albums that I don't like as much are usually bookended by albums I like a lot. I guess if I
had to choose, the run for me would be TOT > Octavarium > SC.
-TOT is one of my least favorite whole albums, even though it does have some things I really like. But the two albums that preceded it are my #1 and #2, so I can't go that direction.
-8VM has some fantastic moments. But it does have a couple of weaker tracks that I don't much care for, and has some "average" (for DT) ones as well.
-SC is such a fun listen for the stuff that I like. But it also has a couple of my least favorite tracks ever. Much like I&W, although it has some fantastic highs, I consider it a very inconsistent album, with about 1/3 fantastic, 1/3 good, and 1/3 not good.
Barring that set of 3, I guess I would have to go with WDADU > I&W > Awake.
-WDADU is my least favorite DT album. I am very thankful for WADARU, because it got me to listen to and learn to appreciate some of what is going on on that album. But as far as the original album and that particular recording of those songs, I don't even listen to it.
-I&W...see above. This was the album that got me into DT, and it has some truly fantastic, classic moments. But there are consistency issues.
-Awake: Great album. But a few songs I don't care for. And if I'm looking for reasons to put this as part of a "least favorite albums" run...let's just say that when I heard Kevin Moore was no longer in the band, I was REALLY glad.