Originally Posted by Ace

Uh. If it were the same thing they had been doing, we'd end up with some sort of St. Anger or Load/Reload sequel. Rick Rubin told them to try to make an 80's sounding album, and they did. You aren't going to get better than Master of Puppets, ...And Justice For All and The Black Album, so people need to quit comparing everything they do to those albums. EVERY band has that one or two records that's just simply better than the rest. The highlighted moments of their careers. Metallica has never released "the same thing", that's the reason why they lost so many old fans.

I think most of us are glad to hear some old familiar sounds for a change.