"These Days" received favorable reviews from critics. "Q" magazine, in a perfect qualification, said that ""Cross Road"" and ""Always"" confirmed that Bon Jovi would survive grunge and "These Days" consolidated their status by keeping Michael Jackson's "HIStory" album off the UK number 1 album slot. The review said that "Hey God", "Lie to Me" and "Something to Believe In" were singled out as the album's highlights and the album was arguably the band's finest musical hour to date. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic concluded that "as the years go by, Bon Jovi gets musically stronger. Not only are their best songs stronger now, their playing is more accomplished. Keeping these improvements in mind, it's no surprise that the group was one of the few pop-metal bands to sustain a career in the mid-'90s". The album was ranked number two on "Q" magazine's list of the "Top 50 albums of 1995", beat out by "The Great Escape" of the British band Blur. The album was mentioned as the second best album of 1995, after "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" by Oasis according to some critics.