It was Jimmy Iovine who said NLOTH needed more HITZ, and the album was delayed so that Lillywhite could come in. Who knows... maybe the album really wasn't any good prior to Lillywhite? We don't know.
The same man, however, thought that the album produced by Chris Thomas was ready to release in the fall of 2003. It was the band who pushed the brakes and said WHOA! LETS WORK ON IT ANOTHER YEAR! Imagine an album with Xanax and Wine, Native Son, and the original versions of ABOY, Yahweh and Sometimes.