It would be nice if MM focused on grooves and cool rhythms more than the flashy stuff. Gotta say, I do not know a single pattern from the last album, whereas I know most of MP's.
While it might not be so catchy and memorable, MM's playing is pretty mindblowing on some songs.
Take The Looking Glass for example, the part before and during the guitar solo with the bass riff, Mike does some cross hihat stuff that i still haven't figured out, but it sounds so satisfying, especially on the live version.
What i expected from Mike and hasn't been delivered is the feeling of the drums over a particular time signature, something that MP did a lot, playing different stuff over the same time signature/riff, which is very fun and impressive at the same time. On the contrary, i think that MM plays most rhythms (even the complex ones) in a 4/4 feel, which makes it sound a little boring even if the rhythmic changes are interesting.
I'm not sure if i'm making a point or i sound stupid