FII is very different. Like you said, the switch from DS to JR was the obvious shift, but one can't help but notice just how much JP's guitar work also shifted from FII onward. FII is not my favorite DT record by a long shot, but it does contain jazzy, bluesy, fusion elements in JP's guitar playing that he has touched on since, but not nearly to the degree that he did on this record.
Kinda begs the question as to whether the change in keys player affected JP's stylistic shift (albeit slight) or if he was heading that way no matter what and JR simply reinforced it.
The guitar work observation is spot-on, and is one of the reasons I love FII. I think JP played with a lot more touch and feel back then. It was obvious to me that he was expanding his boundaries a bit, and looking for a way to marry his style with what both the record company wanted for crossover appeal, Derek's more blues-based playing, and his own diverse musical interests.
As we all know, after the FII era, a lot of that jazzy, bluesy, fusion stuff went away for a more standard progressive metal sound. In combination with JR's style, DT just evolved a different way.
For me personally, I was really disappointed, and don't like DT nearly as much as I did in the FII days. But still a great band.
Yes, you’ve seized on it! What makes FII the last truly great DT album is that experimentation with different styles and crossover of styles. On Awake too, they really tried to capture the grunge sound and sort of make it their own. The Beatles did this too, first with rockability and rock ‘n’ roll, then with folk rock, then psychedelia, and finally Zeppelin-esque blues rock. Since then, that sort of diversity has basically flatlined in favor of generic prog metal.
See I did have a point...I just couldn’t properly articulate it.
But isn't that the genere/sound they created? We call it generic now because A LOT of bands have copied it, but that doesn't mean it's not original coming from them, it's the signature DT sound.
Also, all the jazzy/bluesy elements weren't present on the first three albums, so it's not like after FII they suddenly decided to completely shift the sound they had built before. FII was the big change in their sound, and not the other way around. SFAM has much more in common with IAW, stylistically, than with FII, and SDOIT was just the natural progression from Scenes.
I do agree on the thought that they got stuck in a similar mindset/sound from TOT to Black Clouds, but an album like TA, for example, is anything but "generic prog metal".