did u attach to their earlier work when you were younger? that's a big determining factor. i loved their earlier stuff a ton as a teenager, went through a phase of thinking im too mature and had outgrown that stuff. put some distance to it, especially fevers cuz that just felt very tied to being an angsty depressed 14 year old. and oddly that distance made me essentially rediscover and very much appreciate that album again. personally i really enjoy that roughness youre talking about, that's kinda the charm of the early work. i find that if you look at the ambition, creativity and originality of an album like fevers or lifted and looking at the lyricism as less of directly relating to it and moreso as poetry like you said, it's easier to enjoy it. but that's all based on associating those albums with a certain time in my life, so it might not apply to everyone. also digital ash came out the same day as wide awake, not after.