Doesn't it actually depend on the chord progression itself? I think a harmonic minor progression, especially with some chromatic elements like a diminished 5th will sound anything but cheesy (like some SA twillight for example)
As I said many times, I sorely miss melodic fullon, circa 2006 (Protoculture - Circadians) till 2013 (U-Recken - A Light at the End of The World). I admit that this subgenre/period is responsible for some of the most appaling cheese but also for some of the finest melodic psy ever made (Digicult, Chromosome, Mr Peculiar, Hyperion, Galactika, U-Recken and many others). And even the downright cheesy stuff form that period (Ananda Shake, Intersys, Sytem Nipel, Electro Sun, Indra) is somehow more likeable than Vini Vici or Berg and similar.
I also think the progressive from that period sounded more diverse and overall more interesting than today, the albums like Andromeda - Sensations, Vibrasphere - Archipelago, Suntree - Inside, Freq - Strange Attractors, E-Clip - Shuma - they don't have much in common except lower bpm and overall less intense sound but something sets them apart from modern cookie-cutter prog.