Metallica – Hardwired...To Self-Destruct

This pressing is phenomenal! No pops, no clicks, no scuffs, no nothing! It’s nice and flat, the drums and the bass sound amazing. I highly recommend this pressing if you can find one!

Just found a sealed copy of this version at a recent record show. Pretty excited to get into it soon!

Great album and great sounding pressing, but mine was not flat out of the package sadly. Doesn’t affect the sound but the vinyl does quite the “dance” wobbling around on the turntable.

Excellent pressing with no unwanted sounds. Loud loud loud! Although my copy of Side A/B arrived a bit warped, it doesn't affect the quality thankfully

I’m not reviewing the music, that’s completely subjective. I happen to like all the tracks a lot. Some don’t. This is the way of things, particularly with older bands that have certain fans who prefer certain a certain sound or style they had at different points in the past. There. With that out of the way…

Everything sounds really great on this pressing. The clarity is actually better than I expected it to be. That said I have some issues with it. I question the overall decision that was made to make this album sound tightly pressed together. The sound stage while powerful is not large at all, in fact it’s one of the smallest I’ve heard on a vinyl pressing. The stereo field is just not used to any sort of effect worthy of note either. Now, I fully believe this was done on purpose to give it a tight, clean thrash sound. The gates on even the drums are turned way up, to make all of the sounds concise and only immediate. There’s no kind of resonance on this release at all. Again, I believe this to be an intentional choice by the band themselves. I just think far more could have been done with the use of space that would have really made it sound like an unstoppable force, rather than a razor slicing through the air.

So overall the pressing is great. It’s high quality in all areas. I just would have made some different production choices myself if it had been me mixing this vinyl.

All of that said, if you like the album, this is the version to listen to. Sounds much better than the CD. I just wish they had opened things up a little more in the production and given all of the instruments and vocals room to breathe.

The only blackened Issue I won’t complain about. Actually sounds really great. Very thick records and cover. Sounds like it should! Better than Cd. All the blackened reissues usually sounds pretty bad, but this is good! Maybe because it isn’t a reissue?? Recommended

I really start hating the haters, especially on this one. Yes, it's not a perfect album, yes, it even has annoying tracks, and sometimes, Kirk's solos are just too much. But if you compile it to this: First half: FULL ; Second half (the weak part, album-wise): 3 and 6 - you'll get a fucking great piece of Metallica's music. Songs so strong they would have had a classic place on AJFA or even RTL. **** Four Stars

Absolute perfect pressing.. Sounds AMAZING! A far cry better than the earlier Blackened pressings, some of which were unplayable. Both discs are dead flat and not a single pop or crack to be heard. The mastering is PERFECT!! Great mix, killer production.. Overall a SUBERB album. Definitely the best Metallica album in a long time.

It is brickwalled, but sounds a lot better than Death Magnetic did. For this release, i's say vinyl sounds best.

Fantastic pressing. Cracks, pops are nowhere to be heard. A modern Metallica classic taking their music (somewhat) back to their roots.