Strauss' "Don Quixote" and "An Alpine Symphony" - Thoughts?

Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Death and Transfiguration, Thus Spake Zarathustra, and A Hero's Life are generally his Top Five most popular and frequently recorded tone poems. On the other end of the scale are his least popular tone poems: From Italy, Macbeth, and the Domestic Symphony. In between these poles lie his tone poems Don Quixote and An Alpine Symphony. The Alpine Symphony has surged in popularity in recent years, and has probably overtaken Don Quixote in the number of performances and recordings (although I could be mistaken). Don Quixote was once ranked along side the others in the Top Five but seems to have slipped a bit. I think the critics probably still rank it in higher esteem relative to his other tone poems than the general public does.

So the question is, how do you feel about Don Quixote and An Alpine Symphony in particular? Which is better, and do you think Don Quixote is as effective as some of his more popular and famous works? I find it a bit episodic, and it's the one tone poem where you almost have to know the program well to truly enjoy the music. It is a very beautiful work, however, especially the Dulcinea section and the closing part. Another question is do you consider An Alpine Symphony to be among his greater tone poems? Do people like it more and more these days because it is so colorful and the program relatively simple compared to Don Quixote?

P.S. Some sources label Metamorphosen a tone poem, others do not. I left it off the list.