"The Afro-American" described the opening "Think Twice" as a "rocker" and compared "Hot Potato" to an Evelyn King song. The LP's A-side closes with a cover Prince's "Private Joy" with which Jackson, according to the "LA Times" "matches Prince's intensity with her own hard-edged snap, crackle and pop." Dave Marsh of "Rolling Stone" described the album as "the one Jackson record you don't hear on the radio", which, "given the all-encompassing aura of the phenomenon [...] ought to give you a strong sense of the banality of what's stored in this set of grooves." Chris Albertson of "Stereo Review" said that "judging by album, producer Amir Bayyan is aware of her limitations—at least, that would account for