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Kerrang!Nov 2, 2016This is Metallica galvanised, refreshed, refocused and rediscovering themselves. Best thing they've done since The Black album? Yep. [5 Nov 2016, p.48]
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The WireDec 21, 2016This is the adult Metallica at last, monolithic, grandiose and grizzled. Maturity suits the band, makes them a weightier proposition than the pursuit of former glories ever could. [Dec 2016, p.62]
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Nov 22, 2016Beginning and ending on a high note, Hardwired miraculously leaves the listener hungry for more, following an all-out binge on some of Metallica’s strongest work since 1991.
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Nov 21, 2016There’s plenty of returning to old ground, but this is not a derivative record, and neither is it a return to form. It finds Metallica rediscovering what makes them tick.
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Nov 21, 2016When they lock into a winning riff, as on Confusion and Atlas, Rise!, there are still few better bands around.
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Nov 18, 2016The subject matter might be bleak, but there’s a lust for life on this album that will leave a smile on the faces of their millions of fans, and even on a few of those grumpy old ones.
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Nov 18, 2016If the riffs don't always sink in deeply--and if the entire production feels slightly monochromatic--what impresses here is the thought and musicality within the compositions and the performances, elements that have always been at the band's core and shine brightly on Hardwired... To Self-Destruct.
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Nov 17, 2016Some judicious editing could have made it a classic, but either way this is a triumphant return to form.
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Nov 17, 2016While Hardwired... To Self-Destruct isn’t dissimilar in delivery to their last record, 2008’s ‘Death Magnetic’, Metallica still--in their fifties--remain both vital and innovative.
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Nov 17, 2016The mostly epic-length tracks--almost entirely written by drummer Lars Ulrich and singer-guitarist James Hetfield--are melodically assured furies of serial riffing and tempo shocks.
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Q MagazineNov 15, 2016By the time disc one wraps with the anthemic Halo On Fire, Metallica have already produced the excellent album expected of them. [Jan 2017, p.109]
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MojoNov 2, 2016Freed from that angst, the group sound more savage, more inspired and, crucially, more fun than they have for a quarter of a century. [Dec 2016, p.88]
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Nov 29, 2016Hardwired… To Self-Destruct is the best Metallica record in 25 years, but it’s not going to blow minds.
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UncutNov 22, 2016Spread over two discs, it can get a little samey, but "Here Comes Revenge" and "Moth Into Flame" have plenty of bounce. [Jan 2017, p.27]
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Nov 17, 2016There’s no attempt to recapture their classic sound, no blatant radio single, and not even an attempt at performing more than what they’re comfortable with. If you’ve followed Metallica beyond the black album, you’ll find a very good, honest, release in Hardwired… To Self-Destruct.
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Nov 17, 2016At times the results are exhilarating, as on the superb ‘Moth Into Flame’ and doomy death-march of ‘Confusion’--written from the perspective of a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder--but there’s a smattering of filler, too. Too many tracks outstay their welcome by a matter of minutes.
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Nov 22, 2016Its twelve songs–the vast majority of which extend well past the five-minute mark–fall into two categories: galloping nods to Ride the Lightning, of which the first disc is primarily composed, and doomier mid-tempo cuts à la Sabbath, which make up the bulk of the second. The LP’s highlights--“Hardwired,” “Moth Into Flame,” “Atlas, Rise!” all fall into the former camp, front-loading the record with fire. The second disc, by contrast, is a slog through nondescript, uniform chug, devoid of dynamics or instrumental nuance.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 332 out of 399
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Mixed: 33 out of 399
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Negative: 34 out of 399
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Nov 18, 2016
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Nov 18, 2016
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Nov 21, 2016