Critical reception to "Adore" was generally positive. Greg Kot of "Rolling Stone" magazine regarded "Adore" as "the most intimate album the Pumpkins have ever made and also the prettiest, a parade of swooning melodies and gentle, unfolding nocturnes". Ryan Schreiber of "Pitchfork" described the album as "the Pumpkins' best offering since "Siamese Dream"". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described "Adore" as "a hushed, elegiac album that sounds curiously out of time". "Adore" was considered one of "an inspiring range of 25 classic alternative American albums" by "The Guardian". The lyrics received particular praise from critics—Jim DeRogatis of the "Chicago Sun-Times", who in 1993 had criticized Corgan's lyrics as "too often soundlike sophomoric poetry", said Corgan "took a big leap forward as a lyricist" starting with "Adore". Schreiber, who criticized "Mellon Collie" as "lyrical rock-bottom", called "Adore"s lyrics "poetic", particularly singling out "To Sheila". Greg Kot emphasized the "oblique, private longings, and weighty, sometimes awkward conceits" in the lyrics, while David Browne of "Entertainment Weekly" called them "unsettled and unsettling". The contributions of Wretzky and Iha also received praise, with Kot noting that "Iha's quirky guitar accents and Wretzky's unflashy resolve [... give "Adore" a warmth and camaraderie no other Pumpkins album can match."