The album generally received mixed to positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Lindsay Planer of Allmusic gave "Ben" a four out of five star rating. Planer cited "What Goes Around Comes Around' as being "one of "Ben"s better deep cuts" and "Shoo Be Doo Be Doo Da Day" as being a "winner" while describing "In Our Small Way" as being a "lesser note" for the album, having felt that the song contained a "hopelessly dated 'message'". Planer noted that one "interesting shift was the lack of participation from the Motown hitmaking machine known collectively as 'The Corporation'". Vince Aletti of "Rolling Stone" magazine gave the album a two out of five star rating. Aletti noted that while the album "contains a good deal more original material" it "has nothing as luscious as 'Got to Be There' or 'I Wanna Be Where You Are,'" but, "it's on the whole a much stronger album than the first." He noted that in the album's title track, Jackson had a "surprising amount of feeling" in his vocal performance. Leah Greenblatt, of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the album a "B" grade. Greenblatt commented that "Ben"s title track was a "testament to his talent" and added that the album would "always be defined" by that one song.