No, they were just lazy. It was a nightmare trying to get them to generate an album. They spent more time in court than they spend in a studio.
I did a little reading about them this afternoon - you're right that it was bickering amongst the band that caused issues. Apparently, there was one guy, an MIT grad in fact, who was the primary song writer. No doubt he was talented, but he didn't get along well with the lead singer, and (as you mentioned) was a pain to work with.