group began to draw him away from The Offspring. The Offspring released a Greatest Hits compilation in 2005 including two new songs, "Can't Repeat" and a cover of The Police's "Next to You"., though Willard appeared with the band in the "Can't Repeat" music video. In July 2007 he officially left The Offspring to focus on Angels & Airwaves. Freese again recorded drum tracks for The Offspring for Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008) before he was permanently replaced by former Face to Face drummer Pete Parada. Offspring singer Dexter Holland later commented: The simple truth is that Atom had been working on a few of his own projects during our down time, including Angels & Airwaves but other things too. We think that's great. Unfortunately, in order for him to see those things through he isn't left with enough time to devote to future Offspring stuff. It was a tough choice, but we understand. Atom's been a great drummer for us and we're sure Pete will be great too! 2005–2011: Angels & Airwaves While The Offspring took a "touring hiatus" in 2006, Willard joined Tom DeLonge in his new group Angels & Airwaves. In an interview with Shave Magazine, he said that felt the collective experience of all the members of the band made joining very easy for him. "There’s nobody trying to figure out what is and what isn’t going to work, not just for themselves but for music and for a band, what life’s going to be like on the road and all that kind of stuff. Everybody had enough experience to just buckle down and do the work. It really has made it easier than anything else." DeLonge remarked that Willard "has always felt to me like the single largest score in music. He is a loyal, honest and humble friend, but an even better showman." The band, which also included former Box Car Racer/Hazen Street guitarist David Kennedy and former Distillers bassist Ryan Sinn, released their debut album We Don't Need to Whisper in May 2006. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 and spawned several successful singles including "The Adventure", "It Hurts", "Do It for Me Now", and "The War", and Willard toured extensively with the group in support of the album. In July 2007, during production of the band's second album I-Empire, Willard left The Offspring to focus on his work