...Lyrically, yes, they're defiantly much better now then they used to be. I had trouble trying to interpret any of their music back on their first album (I mean seriously, wtf? "fear," "stupify," "the sickness?" what were any of those songs even supposed to be about? ._.), but I still have to say that musically, I found it more original. It felt more nu-Metal to me, rather than just the mainstream rock band that they are now =/
...Not that nu-Metal doesn't suck anyways. Actually erm-maybe you're right. Still, I was a bit disappointed in their new album. >_>