In 1996, Colin Greenwood said: "I'd give it a seven out of 10 – not bad for an album recorded in just two and a half weeks." The following year, O'Brien said: "Heaven forbid anyone should judge us on "Pablo Honey." We were in hock to Dinosaur Jr. and the Pixies up to our eyeballs." In 2009, "PopMatters" Mehan Jahasuriya criticised the album as "a hodgepodge of half-baked grunge, jangle-pop and stadium-ready alternative rock ... nearly indistinguishable from other early '90s college rock throwaways, save for a few hints of greatness".