With each of its first three albums, seemed to be on its way to bigger and better things, artistically and commercially. promptly ended that streak and still ranks as the group's most disappointing listen. Amplifying the bare beats-and-bliss of but erasing the hooks of , simply wasn't a compelling record. In fact, sounded bored through most of it -- and, to put it bluntly, there wasn't much to get excited about either. Previously so invigorating and idea-driven, and strutted through their verses, often sounding confused, hostile, and occasionally paranoid (check out the battle tracks, ). Meanwhile, the skeletal productions offered little incentive to decode the lyrics and messages, most of which were complex as expected. Though several other tracks had solid productions (like the spry, bass-driven backing to ), saw making its first (and only) significant misstep. (Constant touring off the success of may have been a factor.) Yes, they were still much better than the vast majority of , but it seemed they'd lost their power to excite. One of the few successes was a surprising crossover called (featuring ). ~ John Bush