MTM was actually more of a departure from their ''sound'' than ATS was to be honest. A good majority of ATS sounds like typical Linkin Park to me. More than half of MTM sounds different than anything LP has ever done, songs like Hands Held High, The Little Things Give You Away, In Pieces, Shadow Of The Day, In Between, they all sound very different than Linkin Park. LP had the most fun making MTM than any other record and it took the longest, which in the LP world, means the album will be better. If LP rushes something, like they did with ATS, the final product suffers because of it. There is a reason that Phoenix says ''MTM is Linkin Park at it's best'' at the end of the making of, or why Mike and Chester both have stated that it is their favorite album so far.