This thread prompted me to go back and listen to the FII demos (I do have a copy of COTC, but it is boxed up right now with some other stuff). Going back and listening to ALL of the songs that were done during the FII sessions, I have to say that the songs that didn't make the final album really are some good stuff. It isn't accurate at all to say that only the "best" songs made it. First time I heard this album, the change in style was jarring, and I didn't like it. I don't think I would have felt any differently if the other songs had made the cut instead of what we got, or if we would have gotten a double album. This was still the slick, commercial sounding DT that was at first very offputting to me, and took a bit of time to appreciate. And after going back and listening again, I guess I'm still right where I was before: The album we got is very good; the stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor is also very good; overall, it's cool that between the album, COTC, the FII demos, and the Old Bridge shows, we have such a complete picture of everything that was going on musically with the band during this period of time.
*Regarding COTC specifically, I don't actually have an "official" copy. I wasn't in the fan club at the time it was released. When I really got into the band, it was one of those rare, coveted items that you could pretty much only find on Ebay. And all copies are WAY overpriced, not to mention that the majority are likely just bootleg copies and not an official, pressed copy that a fan is selling off. So I wasn't about to pay some bootlegger an exorbitant amount. But in the early 2000s, a friend of mine who knew I was really into DT was cleaning out a former employee's work hard drive after he had left, and found that he had ripped all kinds of DT rarities, so she took it upon herself to burn copies and give them to me. I thought that was very cool of her. And while I would prefer to have an official copy, at least I got to hear it before we basically got a more complete version with the FII demos.