First off I want to start by saying no one in the metal music industry....no one.....has done what metallica has. I have been a fan since kill em' all and like all of us with time, we change. Hetfield can't possibly sound like he did from Kill em' all to justice. As for giving up on them as a band, guys please. Look at all the jam bands that rocked throught the times...The Dead, Allman Bros, Stones. They ALL do not sound like they did "back in the day".
I will ALWAYS be a metal head and a huge metallica fan to the day the hang it up for good. The new album has some issues, no doubt. But I have been listening to it for 2 weeks now and there are some songs on there that are not 1/2 bad. The mix sux, and that snare is the most annoying thing in the world. But the album was the #1 selling album last week being on the shelf for 4 days.

As for these 1 hit wonder metal bands today (some of them are pretty good), none of them will ever come close to what metallica has done musically. Do really think sevendust, godsmack or system of a down will last for nearly 2
decades????

I have seen the set list of a few of the recent concerts and only 2 new songs were played. The rest of set was songs like Whiplash, Ride the lightning, Seek and destroy. Has metallica lost their luster with age, yes, no question. But they are still the godfathers of modern day metal and I doubt we will ever see the likes of another band like this for a loooong time.

Can't wait to see them in July!!!
My $.02 also.

ps. look to the sky just before u die......