At the time of its release, Pete Makowski in "Sounds" suggested that the album was "probably the most adventurous musical outing yet" from Sparks, suggesting that Ron Mael "is one of the most underrated and original lyricists in the galaxy.". However, the album proved to be a commercial failure, and many other very negative reviews claimed that the band had adopted a new East Coast "American sound" despite the fact that the Mael brothers are indeed Americans. The title is also rather ironic – "Introducing Sparks" was not only not their first album, it wasn't even the first for their label, Columbia (it was their second, and last).