I wonder if the album would be doing better on these polls if it actually was cut down to one disc. If it just had Easy, HOOM, Good Intentions, Baby Birch, On a Good Day, In California, Go Long, Occident, Soft as Chalk, & Kingfisher. There's no doubt in my mind that it would be on more lists and higher. 3 records is just much too many for the unfamiliar, especially considering that each record takes numerous listens to get a hold on. Regardless, I wouldn't take the album any other way.
Still though, it's a lot like the view that All Things Must Pass and The White Album would have obtained even greater classic status with some edits. George Martin was completely against releasing the White Album as a double record. Then there's of course the Clash's Sandinista!, whose length can be extremely polarizing. More recently, if the Magnetic Fields's 69 Love Songs had been trimmed some, I think it would be viewed more as a legitimate classic rather than a cult classic. Still, it just wouldn't be 69 Love Songs.