I thought Crimson II was a complete disappointment. The amount of synths used really put me off. The idea was great but it just didn't come off, IMO. Maybe I should give another chance...
I'm a huge fan of "Prog-Death Metal" or whatever the hell the genre-whores of UM would classify things like Crimson 2 and Moontower as... so in my own personal opinion Crimson 2 is far superior to Crimson, though I also believe Crimson is one of the 'great' albums of Swedish metal, in terms of its influence and impact.