At the time of release, "Sounds" critic Dave McCullough wrote that there were "dark strokes of gothic rock" on "Closer". He described the album as "breathtaking rock music, a peak of current peaks, a sharing of something that's in [...] others at this time, but at the same time defining those black notions and leaving them unmatched." Writing for "Smash Hits", Alastair Macaulay described the album as an "exercise in dark controlled passion" and wrote that its music "stands up on its own as the band's epitaph". Writing for "Melody Maker", Paolo Hewitt described the album as "probably some of the most irresistible dance music we'll hear this year a far cry for sure from the almost suffocating claustrophobic world of the debut album," adding that "the best (and most subversive?) rock music has always dealt head-on with emotions and thought rather than clichéd, standardised stances; that's what makes "Closer" and Joy Division so important."