Most Rewarding Album

out of the Opeth catalogue, its Morningrise...which, like you, is not my favorite record, but it is mostly because of To Bid You Farewell...which has spawned inspiration for lyrics and reflective stories for me.

Green Carnation's Light of Day, Day of Darkness, i had to special order just to hear the master work...but it was worth it...its a 60+ minute musical journey that is amazing from start to finish.
 
Van Der Graaf Generator - "Pawn Hearts" & "Godbluff"
Peter Hammill - "The Fall of the House of Usher" (Poe´s tale, adapted as a dark, theatrical prog opera)

Hard to get into, but really rewarding...
 
Just got Prometheus, inspired by this thread. And I don't know, I love it straight on the beginning ;)

Maybe it will grow even more on me on time, but then it might be all time #1 album for me.
 
Concerning Opeth, it's My Arms, Your Hearse. It clicked for me really only after a few listens.
I also had trouble getting into Mardraum by Enslaved, but now I think it's great.
 
My Arms Your Hearse, most definitely. It took me a while to get into it, but one night it just clicked. It was beautiful. It's been my favourite album for a few months now.
 
Orchid for me.... the bands first release and some bands end up with a debut that is messy and pulls in lots of directions, but Opeth somehow made their most creatively "free" album that just does what it damn well pleases and there is something extra special about it for me.
 
Orchid - Their collection of oldest ideas. They (the songs) seemed unsettled but over time that proved to be quite powerful to me.
 
i feel very alone in my reply here...every Opeth album came pretty well to me...i digested it all quickly, but Still Life was definitely like a stab in the heart...

the hardest though would be any Children Of Bodom album...(or any album with tons of keyboards)....the keyboards were annoying at first but damn...they really are amazing...just look at my sig!

that says it all
 
Katatonia's Dance of December Souls is very rewarding

At first I hated Jonas's vocals on that album, and I just couldn't get into the album at all.
But I kept listening to it, and now it's one of my favorite albums ever
 
Other than Opeth, Carcass - Necroticism.

I didn't like it other than a few riffs here and there. It sounded messy. I recorded it and put it where I listen to music over and over for days - in my car. I love the album now. I'm so glad I didn't give it away before giving it a good solid month of listening.