No doubt the debut was mainstream as fuck with more radio hits then they've ever had but it was a great album.
I personally think, while I love heavier music their style change was just too drastic for their fanbase and by that time the grunge wave took over so nobody really cared about this type of music.
I agree with you, the first few SR albums were all great but I think the main reasons for no recognition on the later albums are mentioned above.
I think they went from playing stadiums to mid sized venues before kicking out Bach.