The album was critically acclaimed. Allmusic's Jason Ankeny praised the album, rating it four stars out of five and writing: "with "Thank God for Mental Illness", their third collection of absolutely stunning music in less than a year, the Brian Jonestown Massacre parallels the prolific and effortless brilliance of the Rolling Stones at their fevered late-1960s peak; the sheer scope of their achievements is stunning – rarely are bands quite so productive, or quite so consistently amazing. [...] while it lacks the blistering immediacy of their previous material, the album swaggers and struts with all of the group's usual attitude intact, coming complete with a loose, offhanded feel perfectly accenting the overall atmosphere of debauchery". "SF Weekly" called the album "incredibly strange" but still said it was "worthy." Drowned in Sound retrospectively comments that its "ably demonstrates" the band creating "some wonderful music pretty much unparalleled by any of their peers."