Trouser Press wrote that the album "demonstrates the Sins' marvelous ability to synthesize an original sound — less stylized than the Lyres' — from now-standard ingredients."[2]The Morning Call listed The Hardest Way on their list of the top 10 albums of 1989, writing that "the Sins' second LP is an embarrassment of riches; it's fiercer, more melodic, more complex and more danceable than their debut, Big Soul."[5]Spin wrote that "the songs fit more comfortably into standard 60s punk grooves."[6]