first off, there is nothing wrong in being optimistic, and we all want to root for bands that matter(ed) to us, but please take in consideration a couple things.
i too, when younger, was absolutely awe inspired by metallica. when i was 16 i got to meet them and about died. so i know what it's like to admire this group.
but times change and so do people. the fellas that made "Master of Puppets" were 23 year old motivated, fired up, well skilled metal musicians whom had goals that were aimed in a different direction than today. back then they said "FUCK MTV", and "FUCK RADIO", etc.
today we see a group of people that are well into their 40's, who went through a phase in the 90's telling everyone that "we aren't metal anymore", and embraced both MTV and radio airplay. it is not necessarily OUR faults for calling this band into suspect when they obviously pulled away from their roots and questioned their "diehard" fan's motivations.
it's not that i don't want to root for this band anymore, but it is almost impossible for me to expect them to revive something that died long ago. they aren't the same people anymore. they have long been rich many times over, totally alienated from the type of situations that motivated them to write "Ride the Lightning". hell, they may even want to write another album like "Ride...", but their lives are nothing like they were when they were 20 years old, and their motivations in life are nothing like they were back in 1984.
people's lives change, circumstances change, and motivations change, especially in Metallica's case. they used to be poor headbanger's ready to create meaningful music. now they're rich, alienated rock stars who've been influenced by pop radio and MTVicon status for so long that they simply do not have the same spark for creating.
IF i turn out to be wrong i'll be the first to come back here and eat humble pie. i doubt seriously that will happen.
i'm as "open minded" as they come, but what does that even mean really? no one is above criticism, even and especially metallica.