"Back to the Egg" received predominantly negative reviews on release; author Alan Clayson writes of the album receiving "a critical mauling as vicious as that for "London Town"". In an especially unfavourable critique for "Rolling Stone" magazine, Timothy White described it as "the sorriest grab bag of dreck in recent memory" and lamented that none of the songs were "the least bit fleshed out", with the listener instead given "an irritating display of disjointed images and unfocused musical snapshots". After opining that, since 1970, "this ex-Beatle has been lending his truly prodigious talents ... to some of the laziest records in the history of rock & roll", White wrote: "Who, one felt compelled to ask, is in charge here? "Back to the Egg" provides the final, obvious answer: "no one"." "Billboard"s reviewer gave "Back to the Egg" "Spotlight" status (meaning "the most outstanding new product of the week's releases and that with the greatest potential for top of the chart placement") and commented: "The music features typical McCartney fare of late with nothing here that will distinguish it as one of his classics. The arrangements, though, are interesting, encompassing a variety of styles."