I really like it, too. It's a little on the maudlin side, but it's really well done in my opinion. Bruce should have contributed a lot more, based on how talented a guy he was. I understand that this is a band that had a lot of talented people contributing, but even so, this guy was a great singer, a really good keyboard player, a solid musician all around, a good producer/arranger. It's strange to see so few things, especially considering the poorer material that ended up on some albums, or the droughts between albums.
Also, as corny as his approach may have seemed to the trying-hard-to-be-progressive faction of the band, I think that was a nice yin-yang. Especially since Brian was corny as hell while being progressive, serving as the perfect conduit between the two sides.
I agree, but I wonder if Bruce felt like the outsider again when he rejoined the group full time in the late 1970s.