Their top 2 albums (justice & master) are very distinct , and each one has it's own charactar that made it that great ... They didn't have to keep with their tone and old riffs and be compared to AC/DC , they could just have made music with the same strength.

Although I'm not realy dying to hear a new solo from Hammett (although he was one of my main influences) , but I don't think I can stand a metallica album without some "at least" crappy solos !