Metallica New Album: 10 Old-School Thrash Lessons They Need To Relearn

Ever since the '90s, Metallica have seemed to have lost their touch a little bit.

While never slipping into flat-out unlistenable territory (St. Anger notwithstanding), the crux of the band's post-'80s catalog has often strayed away from what made them thrash metal titans in the first place. Though they seem to be on the right track as of late, Hetfield and co. have a lot of work to do before they're back to their former selves.

As a collective, a lot of changes need to be made if Metallica were to make another album as classic as Master of Puppets. Though albums like that worked great in their time, the band still have the potential to match that so long as they maintain their physical endurance.

We will obviously be excluding some of the more unthinkable options, like bringing back Jason Newsted or trying to de-age some of the members. Also, no matter how much we might want it, Cliff Burton's touch will have to remain only in spirit for this outing.

Nevertheless, Metallica can still manage to put another lasting stamp on the world of metal before their eventual retirement, and here are just a few rules that could help them reach the top once more.

Decades have passed since Dave Mustaine was abruptly kicked out of Metallica. After waking up from a drunken stupor once they reached the East Coast, the rest of the band read him the riot act and sent him packing right before going into the studio to cut Kill Em All. Even though Mustaine eventually took his ideas into Megadeth, there are traces of his style laced throughout some of the band's classic '80s material, from "The Call of Ktulu" to "Leper Messiah."

So does Mustaine necessarily have to be in the band again? No. What Megadeth has done for the metal community is in a class by itself, but it could benefit Metallica to at least have a collaborative back-and-forth with their former erratic guitar player. Mustaine always had the more technical finesse of every musician in the band, and we might be able to see some of that magic in action if they come together for a jam session in the next few years.

While Kirk Hammett is the blues-flavored metal god, the addition of Mustaine for at least one track might reignite the fire that these guys once had back when they were slogging it out on the streets of San Francisco.

People have never failed to bring up the rivalry between Metallica and Megadeth, but if both sides were able to put their guards down for a single song, we may have something amazing on our hands.