Reviewing "BWPS" on the tenth anniversary of its release, Chris Shields of the "SC Times" wrote that "the sequencing raised a question mark or two, and there were mixing quibbles (I would have loved to hear more bass), but ... he lyrical beauty, the majesty of the music, the shifting (yet somehow fixed) meanings that intertwine throughout it all, still elate me, still fill me with hope and joy." "PopMatters" contributor Sean Murphy opined that the album was "crucial", but rendered "less significant" with the availability of "The Smile Sessions". Writing for "NewMusicBox", Frank Oteri called "BWPS" "a wonderful album, but it is also not quite right. It is not and can never be a substitute for "SMiLE"".