I don't think anyone does really. I remember 10,000 Days being compared to Undertow be early listeners as well, and it didn't really turn out that way.
Also, I still think Undertow is a great sounding album, in many ways better than their later records, but not categorically better. Undertow has a great sense of space on the recording, which their later albums don't have - they're a bit more wall of soundish. For me it's hard to say one style id preferred over the other, though I think Aenima, Lateralus & 10k Days are all better albums overall.