I know what you mean, but I honestly stand by what I said and don't think I was out of line. If Kevin hadn't left Dream Theater, fans would probably have thought differently about Awake. The controversy surrounding Kevin leaving, the real (or perceived) change in the direction of the band, and how that has brutally divided the fanbase has consequences. People who come online and discover that there's this rift between fans tend to see Awake as the last good DT album before things started going downhill. If it weren't for the internet fans, people probably wouldn't know the rift was even there and would probably be less inclined to feel that they should have some strong (positive/negative) feelings about Awake.
I disagree. I thought the keyboardist on Awake sounded bored out of his mind even
before I really knew the band history. I guess one man's "tasteful keyboard parts"
is another man's "generic 'dark' metal synth strings everywhere". Seeing how I
dislike most of the material on the album, I understand Kevin's lack of interest.
Seeing how most songs on Awake don't stray far from the standard verse-chorus
structure (in contrast to the more inventive stuff on I&W) I've always wondered if
the music was deliberately dumbed down to appeal to more listeners or whether the
material was just underdeveloped (maybe due to the lack of interest on behalf of
Kevin). As a follow-up to I&W the album certainly seemed like a step back to me.