This continued the artistic theme established by Malcolm Garrett on the covers of Another Music in a Different Kitchen (squares) and Love Bites (circles).

In a contemporary review of A Different Kind of Tension, Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone felt that the album suffered from repetitiveness, "resulting in a catchall of reworked riffs and static, similar tempos", while nonetheless praising it as their "most formidable record yet".

[14] The Globe and Mail concluded that, "except for 'Mad Mad Judy' (the most biting thing on the disc) the really fine material is stacked on the tail end of the second side.

"[15] The New York Times determined that "it is the tension between the music's pop lyricism and the band's all-out rock-and-roll energy that makes this English quartet so special.

"[16] In a retrospective review, Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan called A Different Kind of Tension the best of the band's first three albums.