In an October 1996 interview for Ray Gun, Tricky said he wanted to make Pre-Millennium Tension an "out-an-out punk record" to get away from the trip hop label with which his previous work had been categorized by critics.

According to PopMatters writer Wayne Franklin, Pre-Millennium Tension "revealed a new, more sinister sound, most likely attained due to his move to New York City and his work with underground rappers ... containing the singles "Christiansands" (the biggest hit of his career), "Tricky Kid", and "Makes Me Wanna Die" (which contains a sample of Eric B.

[3] USA Today reviewer Elysa Gardner called it a dazzling trip hop album and Tricky "prolific, innovative and fearlessly eccentric", comparing him to American musician Prince.

[5] David Bennun from The Guardian argued that Tricky had deconstructed hip hop clichés and "gangsta-isms" into bizarrely malcontent songs on what was an "astonishing record – not a great one, but a very good, very awkward and very strange one".

[7] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau found his use of hip hop soundscapes compelling on a record that "comprehends and inhabits the dystopia of everyday life more radically than Wu-Tang could conceive".

He believed Tricky's incorporation of more soul and reggae elements than Maxinquaye, as well as his use of spasmodic beats and "revue-style singers", had weakened his "trademark trip-hop" style and resulted in a more theatrical, "pretentious" record.