In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Bret Adams gave the album three stars out of five. He praised Fairbairn's choice of not overproducing the album which he felt Fairbairn had done on previous albums by Kiss and Aerosmith. Anderson, Howe, and Squire, Adams thought, had "fine moments" and noted White's drumming "consistent". He thought "Homeworld (The Ladder)" was a "tight performance" and noted the "supple vocals/acoustic guitar/piano coda" as its strongest section, but rated "Face to Face" as the album's strongest track and "New Language" the album's best long form song. Longtime supporter of the band and biographer Chris Welch praised Fairbairn's "sensitive, disciplined" production and Plotnikoff's engineering gave a "cohesion, clarity, structure and a strong live feel to the album". He thought each song had its own unique identity yet "seemed linked to a common cause", and pointed out that the band's sparing use of instrumental power enhanced the music. Welch highlighted "Face to Face", a track he felt "had some of the most joyful playing heard on a Yes album in many moons".