I couldnt have said it any better Astat. I am sick of whining people saying "OMG LP HAZ CHANGED, HYBRID WAS THEIR BESTZ". Here's my problem with that. If LP made ANOTHER HT they wouldnt have lasted as long as they did. People get sick of hearing the same thing over and over again (KoRn, Dragonforce....the list goes on). For bands to survive they need to take risks and grow as musicians. Do you think Metallica would have lasted if they continued doing Kill em all? No and in return we got Black Album. Trent Reznor got panned by critics and NIN fans for making Downward Spiral. They kept saying oh man they changed they should make another Pretty Hate Machine. Trent has stated Spiral was great for him to make and he loves the album. Now look at NIN they have dominated musically.
To me MTM was a necessary album. I personally love that record because it showed LP has real talent. If MTM wasnt done then I doubt we'd be sitting on this forum having this argument at all because LP would've fallen apart. ATS I believe is going to be THE album for LP. It's going to show they arent a one trick pony and that they are going to continue to be a driving force in music. LP has ALOT of talent and its about time they they threw the gloves off and show it.