I'm relatively new to SX and I don't get it why V is widely considered their best album. I gave it many spins, but it's just boring and dragging, hard for me to get through it even while I'm driving (and that's the perfect frame of mind for me to internalize new music). The dated, flat production doesn't help it either and Russell's vocals are surprisingly unimpressive compared to later albums.
Now, The Odyssey, Paradise Lost and especially Undeworld (my favorite album in recent years!) are all fantastic and, thanks to them, SX is quickly shaping up to be one of my favorite bands these days. Russell is the most impressive metal vocalist I have ever heard, hands down. I'm usually an instruments guy (and they excel in that department as well), but SX is all (well, mostly) about the singing and the vocal melodies for me.
When it comes to general consensus about the best album of any given band, I usually end up coming into fold and agreeing with said consensus, sometimes almost immediately (case in point: Master of Puppets), sometimes after a while, as the album needs to grow on me (as with SFAM). With V, I seem to be at an impasse and I just don't get it. I should at least like it somewhat, but no. Why?