You know, I was thinking about the same thing after picking up 'Magnification'. All the lyrics were too straight forword removing the 'fun' of decodeing the lyrics. The lyrics on 'Close to the Edge' for instance are alittle complicated, but I figure it's a story of a journy one must take.
And 'Tales', as I remebered correctly was conseved when Jon was sitting in a hotell room looking through religus panflits and he found four similer things running through each of them, thus the four songs.
But I agree that the lyrics never really stood in the frunt ground so much that as Jon's singing. I always just pictured what he said in a cinimitogic way (is that even a word? If it isin't, it should be). For instance, 'Turn of the Century' I can just picuter a couple of star-crossed lovers meeting again in the street, barlie able to remeber the other, but simotaniously remebering the dance the two shaired high on a cloud at a mascerade ball with only their eyes to recognize. (Hopless romantic am I?)
I think that's what was missing so much in the Tormato and anything after Drama. The lyrics were way too straight forword leaving no room for the emagination to take hold.