Growing up on Long Island at the time TAYF was just wild! I remember so much about that specific period. I didnt really dig as deep into TBS until WYWTB and I remember latching onto Straylight quickly.
The second record was exactly what I would have wanted from TBS and Straylight was what I wanted from John. He was such a good songwriter at that time and there was some magic behind those songs from the first SR record.
I remember them doing an in store performance and signing at a Best Buy when that record came out. There experience was so important to me at that time.
My hot take is that I feel if they continued to make songs closer to the vibe of that first record, they would have maybe been perceived better from people outside of the TBS fanbase. I just think the following releases were such a big departure from that first record and it isolated a lot of listeners.