When ATS came out, I immediately decided that it was the greatest thing in music history and that it would be my favourite album for the rest of my life.
Nearly a year later, my opinion is rather different.
On reflection, I can say this. Very few of the songs on ATS are as good as on Hybrid Theory or Meteora. Iridescent is an exception, and Waiting for the End and Blackout come close. But, in terms of strong songwriting and X-factor brilliance, nothing much on ATS comes close to their old anthems.
However, A Thousand Suns IS my favourite LP album to listen to all the way through. The first two albums are collections of brilliant songs, which, when taken independently, still stand equally strong. The real magic of ATS is the fact that it is far greater than the sum of its parts. Listening to it is an experience, an otherworldly voyage of sound that transcends that of other albums. Though none of its tracks (bar Iridescent) are masterpieces when taken out of the album, when fit together into the jigsaw of A Thousand Suns, the pieces gain new meaning and strength.
Overall, I would choose Hybrid Theory as the band's best album, based on the sheer quality of EVERY song on that album. A Thousand Suns is not flawless (it takes too long to get into the first actual song, the mixing is brilliant, The Messenger is a weak closer), but it is a magnificent piece of art when taken in it's glorious whole. And if I had to do a ranking, it would be-
Hybrid Theory > A Thousand Suns ≈ Meteora > Minutes to Midnight