"Dr. Octagonecologyst" received largely positive reviews. Although it did not chart, Nakamura said the album sold well, even during its initial underground release. "We didn't have records in every store. We'd have 10 copies in Tower and the next day they'd be sold out, and then we wouldn't get another copy in for another month." Robert Christgau gave the album an honorable mention, citing the album's introduction and the songs "Earth People" and "Wild and Crazy" as highlights, and writing simply "the shock horror! the shock horror! the perhaps authentically crazy!" "NME" described the album as "nineteen strong doses of pure, undiluted hip-hop." Steve "Flash" Juon of RapReviews wrote that "If you aren't laughing, you should be bugging. Kool Keith obviously doesn't care. You should, though, because like every other record Keith has ever been on, it will be hailed ten years from now as a classic." Chairman Mao of "Rolling Stone" remarked that "Kool Keith leads and oversees the chaos with a Zappa-esque commitment to decadence."