Reviewing the album in "" (1990), Robert Christgau called Harrison "a simpleton, but also a genuine weirdo" whose voice can imitate wah-wah sounds as well as Robert Plant emulates the guitar of Jimmy Page. Christgau added: "And he seems genuinely troubled by evil doings here on the wrong side of the veil of maya, not that there's anything a mere star-in-spite-of-himself can do about it, except write the occasional ditty about playing in a rock and roll band." Writing for Rough Guides in 2006, Chris Ingham described "Best of Dark Horse" as "excellent" and regretted that the album was no longer available. With "The Best of George Harrison" the artist's only compilation in print at that time, and "hardly a satisfying one-stop sampler", Ingham continued, "This state of affairs surely can't last much longer." In a 2018 review for "Uncut", Peter Watts said that while the 1976–89 period is not widely considered to be the artist's most productive period, "It's a testament to Harrison's talent that he could put together such a strong selection of songs ... and that's without including a couple of charting singles ('This Song', 'This Is Love') or anything by the Traveling Wilburys. Even today, it's the only place you can hear 'Poor Little Girl' and 'Cockamamie Business', making it essential for completists."<ref name="Watts/Uncut" />