In a contemporary review for "Spin", Lauren Spencer hailed "Badmotorfinger" as a "garden of sound" that drew on older hard rock influences without sounding "derivative". Ann Powers from "Blender" said, "Cornell strikes the perfect Jesus Christ pose on this sonic wallop", while "Entertainment Weekly" critic Gina Arnold commended Soundgarden for writing more engagingly than their contemporaries, "who seldom get beyond extolling booze, girls, and cars". She concluded in her review that the record was more "stylishly bombastic rather than bludgeoningly bombastic. Tuneless heavy metal is, after all, still tuneless heavy metal, and in that department, Soundgarden are as functional as they make 'em." In a retrospective review, AllMusic staff writer Steve Huey deemed the album "heavy, challenging hard rock full of intellectual sensibility and complex band interplay." Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic, finding it "credible" as a metal record because of Thayil's impressive use of guitar noise but less impressive lyrically: "Chris Cornell howls on about 'lookin for the paradigm' and 'your Jesus Christ pose' (I swear, that's the good stuff)".