I think the controversial part is the idiotic notion that some art can be "superior" to other art (especially by the same artists, more or less). If you like DT12 more than the rest, then own that opinion, don't apologize for it and don't caveat it. But on the same token, don't pretend that you have any insight or any ability to say what is "best" or not.
For me, I got into the band with Images and Words back when it was first released. I liked Maiden and Priest and Rush, but I liked Yes and Genesis and Tull, and it was a cool example of how you could like both, and incorporate both into your music. It will always be my favorite (and is, in fact, in my Top Ten favorite albums of all time). For me, DT12 is relatively unlistenable. Yeah, I like "The Looking Glass" a lot but the rest is interesting, but I don't ever get the feeling "Oh! I have to listen to DT12 today!" like I do with I&W. That also gives me a perspective that I have listened to each new album in real time, with the waits in between, and in the order produced.
That doesn't make "I&W" "better" or "superior" or anything like that. It just means... I like it more. It's not a contest, and I don't have to trash later albums, and don't have to make silly comments about how the band "evolved" (or didn't) or how they are "repetitive" now (or not). There are trends, and that is to be expected because the band is human, humans grow and evolve, and the band itself has taken on (and left behind) members. I don't know how one can say "better" or "superior" when 40% of the members are different, and of those that remain, they are 20 years older (with all that entails).
There's my "controversial opinion on DT".