Dang, I was expecting a 6, that's brutal To be fair, if I think of the margin of progression the band has, my score for FZ could be closer to a 7. Solid record front-to-back, catchy cohesive songwriting, but it is true it lacks some higher highs. That said, as at unit, still see as an improvement from the last 3 records. If I take the nostalgia out of it, I also think it has more solid and / or interesting songwriting than Meteora. MTM is arguable, but some songs on that record don't hit me as much anymore. FZ is a safe record that came from a "not safe" context. I understand it lacks the novelty factor of the past records, and sometimes it almost feels a bit too intentional or calculated at recapturing the original LP flame. But frankly I think it eventually did it in a very effective and contagious fashion TL;DR Damnit FZ slander!!!
FZ is fine for me but the return value has significantly diminished over time. I find myself personally only really coming back for Casualty, Overflow, and IGYEIH now. I never had the same hype most did for The Emptiness Machine from the start. I don't dig too far into trying to give music scores and whatever these days. I have developed a strong dislike of any type discussion around how objectively "good" music is. I can usually tell whether I like something or not without dissecting it because I know the things that appeal to me and how I relate to art generally. That said, I do dissect things often because I enjoy that as well. But that's not for the sake of evaluating the music. That's just hyperfixation.