Matt Hyde to record their next album. The record was envisioned as a critique of post-9/11 America and the music industry. Formatted as a concept album, it told the story of a character attempting to find fulfillment in modern culture. "Songs were written and assembled with a certain ebb and flow in mind," said Schwab, "I approached the album like writing chapters in a book." The group spent over 14 months recording demos for Atlantic, which invested nearly $1,000,000 in the project when it was all said and done. Because of the pressure to produce radio singles, the sound of the album was quite different from its previous releases, as was Schwab's cryptic lyrics, which represented the frustrations of being stifled creatively and feeling powerless in the process. Truthless Heroes was released in September 2002 and peaked at No. 146 on the Billboard 200. Their first and only single, "Hollow Again", peaked at No. 35 on Mainstream Rock Tracks. Atlantic refused to release the second single because they claimed the lyrics conflicted with the Iraq War effort. While lauded by critics for its pounding criticism of the media and entertainment industry, the album proved to be controversial, particularly the promotional website. The group performed with Taproot on their self-titled tour in fall 2002. In addition, they played shows with Thirty Seconds to Mars, Trapt, Blindside, Trust Company, Sevendust, and Finger Eleven. 2003–2006: Songs to Burn Your Bridges By and ...And the Rest Will Follow In mid-2003 the band parted ways with Atlantic and their management team. The departure from Atlantic, in particular, was a big disappointment for the band. "All of the hype about our future successes turned out to be just that – hype, " said Schwab in an interview, "We did not go platinum [...] the record fell short of expectations and did not come close to the impact of our previous effort." Project 86 then started an independent label called "Team Black Recordings". Work began on a new album after Hyde was convinced to produce again. Their fourth album, Songs to Burn Your Bridges By, was made available exclusively on their website in Fall 2003. The following year, Project 86 re-signed with their previous label, Tooth and Nail. Songs to Burn Your Bridges By was re-released in June 2004. The new version included 3 new tracks produced by Aaron Sprinkle and mixed by J.R. McNeely, several new