AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine cited the track "We'll Be Together" as a highlight, while praising the album as a whole, writing: "If "Dream of the Blue Turtles" was an unabashedly pretentious affair, it looks positively lighthearted in comparison to Sting's sophomore effort, "Nothing Like the Sun", one of the most doggedly serious pop albums ever recorded." Erlewine added, "If "Nothing Like the Sun" runs a little too long, with only his Gil Evans-assisted cover of 'Little Wing' standing out in the final quarter, it still maintains its tone until the end" and noted that "it's one of his better albums."