Chuck Eddy of "Entertainment Weekly" noted: ""Woke Up With a Monster" is more of the perfunctory mush Cheap Trick settled for in the '80s: some chirpy harmonies and empty boogie, a leadoff stomp that rips off '70s glam icon Gary Glitter, but none of the goofy guitar solos or deadpan lyrics of yore." Tom Sinclair of "Rolling Stone" wrote: "It would be nice to report that "Woke Up with a Monster" is a return to form, but too much of it is simply well-crafted pop metal. To be fair, "Monster" isn't a total washout: "My Gang" and "Girlfriends" have some of the old flair, and "You're All I Wanna Do" is as tidy a power-pop number. But the smell of compromise that has dogged the band since its massive 1988 MOR hit "The Flame" hangs over the rest."