 Dom Lawson of "The Guardian" had an opposite opinion, declaring "Hardwired..." Metallica's "finest record in 25 years".He criticized the second disc for not being on the same level as the first, and stopped short of calling the album a classic.Sputnikmusic's Trey Spencer wrote that, performance-wise, Hetfield's voice sounded reinvigorated, but complained on Ulrich's drumming for not "breaking a sweat" on most of the tracks.