You are correct, HotPlant. He must be bored with rock and wants to do something else, who knows???
I was just (personally) disappointed as I waited a year or more for some "good ol', real rock" (and after the letdown of nothing transpiring from the JP/JPJ/Jason project), it was really disheartening (that someone of Chris' calibre and all would want his name associated with something as mediocre and in a completely different format as "Scream"...
Simply this:
All his record company (Sony/Interscope/Universal) had to do (to not "mislead" consumers into thinking this was a "Rock" record) was to put a sticker on his cd and let his fans know this record would not sound anything like his previous albums and let fans hear samples of the songs, so they could make the decision for themselves.
Just as Chris can't make everyone happy, neither you nor I can make everyone happy either, but we can take preventative measures to give others clear communication in advance.
I do not blame Chris (at all). You are correct. He is an artist (and a true one at that).
I blame his record label's Public Relations/A&R/ Promotions for not clearly communicating that his new work was not resembling his previous work and misrepresented his new one to the public.
"Bait and Switch" could have been a good title, but i think that the one they chose, "Scream", probably fits it best....
R