[3] Rolling Stone's David Wild gave the album a three out of five stars rating, exclaiming: "A great popular singer who suffers from a lack of image, James Ingram is unlikely to change that position much with the release of Always You."

"[8] Phyl Garland of Stereo Review wrote: "Others might shout, bark, growl, scream and rap their way through recordings, but James Ingram has such a superb voice that it's enough to simply hear him sing [...] He is presented here in tastefully fashioned romantic settings that permit him to display his irresistible way with a ballad.

Without disrupting the mood he has created, he deftly weaves in some dazzling vocal effects a la Al Jarreau or George Benson.

When I want to complete a task or spend some time with a friend or sweetheart, and want some soothing, pleasant background music, I don't want to have to get up and fast forward through a song that breaks that mood.

"[7] With a 3.5 out of 5 stars rating Greg Simms of the Dayton Daily News remarked that Ingram's collaborators on Always You amount to "a little embellishment on this album.