The thing I can relate to that most people use to glorify the first 2 albums is the "mood" factor. In spite of the shitty production, some amazing, transcendental atmospheric moments were achieved ... like the gradual crescendo in The Night and the Silent Water, for example.
The thing is, for me, I enjoy those moments immensely, and there really are no bad riffs or ideas on either album... I just think the actual songwriting itself was lacking. Some people like that - the lack of regard for song structure and instead concentrating on transitions and how well the pieces actually fit together, even if as a song it's just a long string of Riff A going to Riff B going to Riff C etc. etc. But for me, it interferes with my enjoyment of those albums ... to get to those moments I love, I have to sit through a song that to my ears sounds thrown together, and that sounds long just for the sake of being long (Black Rose Immortal has some amazing moments, but it is very hard for me to sit through all 20 minutes ... and this is coming from a fan of classical music, so it's definitely not an attention span issue). The riffs, ideas, and melodies in and of themselves are fine, it's just the way they were presented ...
The point of this post is - It seems like most Opeth fans are either on one side or the other - you either love the first 2 albums and think they're more TR00 than what came after and think Morningrise is their epochal masterpiece, OR, you didn't jump on board until D&D or GR and can't understand what the big deal is about the early shit.
My first Opeth album was actually MAYH, which could explain why I'm somewhere in the middle. I dig the old style for what was great about it, but I am still amazed by how the band continues to grow - in songwriting, musicianship, dynamics, the progressive aspects - and most of all, and this is why GR resonates so much with me, in terms of sheer emotion. I think GR is a HUGE, HUGE step in a better direction for the band, probably the best transition since the one from MAYH to Still Life. I think the talk about selling out and waaah they made a video they don't care about being tr00 anymore waaaaaaaah, is bullshit. Opeth are indeed becoming more popular, but maybe, just MAYBE, could that be because the music is actually getting better? Nah, couldn't be the music. It's because they signed to RR.
There's a school of metalheads and music fans in general that seem to believe that when something starts pulling in more fans, it must be losing substance and integrity ... I can think of no better argument against this than GR. It is a brilliant album. The songwriting is better. The musicianship is tighter. The rhythmic ideas are more interesting. The melodies are more singable and memorable, even the growls (oooooh, that must be a bad thing! memorable = pop music!) The lyrics are more compelling. The keyboards are seamlessly integrated into a sound that took years to develop - not an easy feat. And IMHO, the old-school-Opeth atmosphere still pops up from time to time (the section with the harmonics in Harlequin forest comes to mind).
Just my .02, flame away if you must...
