Is This What You Want? superstar backing musicians, saying, "they're always talkin' about who's on the album and not the album itself." Writing in "ZigZag" in July 1974, Andy Childs advised the magazine's readers: "it's worth its weight in gold, so if it's absent from your collection, add it to your shopping list of second-hand records." Greenfield and Childs both recognised Harrison's "Sour Milk Sea" as a highlight of the album. Richie Unterberger of AllMusic offers a less favourable opinion of "Is This What You Want?", describing Lomax as "a passable but unarresting singer and songwriter". Unterberger identifies the best moments as the "Beatlesque" songs
This Is What the Truth Feels Like number 56 before dropping off the chart the next week. In Japan and South Korea, it peaked at numbers 74 and 75, respectively, despite Stefani's promotional efforts in the former country. During a midyear report of albums released in 2016, "Entertainment Weekly" critics ranked "This Is What the Truth Feels Like" at number 11; a selected review by Greenblatt reads: "Loves lost and found provide the twin poles for Stefani's gorgeously honest chronicle of a very complicated year—and inspired some of her most purely satisfying pop songs in years." "Newsday" also ranked it in their midyear list at number 16.