Modern critical opinion towards "Lola Versus Powerman" is generally positive but often mixed. Initially given a positive review by the magazine in 1971, "Rolling Stone" rated it 31/2 out of 5 stars in its 1992 printing—however, the fourth edition (published in 2004) ranked it at only 2 stars. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album a positive review, writing that "Davies never really delivers a cohesive story, but the record holds together because it's one of his strongest sets of songs."