Antenna marked a shift in Cave In's musical style which, while critically praised, was met with distaste from longtime fans.

Continuing with the direction the band started with on Creative Eclipses and Jupiter, Antenna further emphasized spacey, progressive rock tendencies with soaring anthems and clean, melodic vocals while minimising the heavy metal elements that were prominent in their first recordings.

In summer 2003, guitarist Adam McGrath lamented, "We got major backlash for growing out of our metal phase... People were calling us faggots; they were using derogatory terms on us.

The video for "Anchor" starred actor Richard Edson trying to cope with his daily life after he wakes up with his feet imprisoned in concrete blocks.

It features the band breaking into a music store to play the instruments and use the CCTV to record a performance of the song.

Rating it 4 and 1⁄2 stars out of 5, Loftus said that "Boston's Cave In jumped to RCA and the world of big-time promotion for Antenna, but it's satisfying to hear that their intelligently warped sound has kept its teeth in the transition."

Concluding the article, Kraus declared that "This should be in everyone's stereo this spring, as it may go down in the history books as the Pet Sounds for the aggressive-rock world.

"[9] In the Delusions of Adequacy review, it was claimed that "Antenna follows up on the trend gradually built by Cave In's previous releases, meaning that the songs are less wandering, more trimmed and primed for a larger audience.

And yet, the band has also maintained its own identity and created something it can be proud of without being worried about being called major label sellouts or anything of the sort.

Reviewing for Pitchfork, contributor Dominique Leone wrote "I'm not sure Cave In features the world's most interesting, nuanced singing, and again, I have to cast my vote against nu-rock's maxed-out mix preferences, making every moment on the disc a peak, which effectively makes every moment part of a monolithic, dulling experience.

"[11] During the later touring schedule for Antenna, Cave In acknowledged the poor reception from longtime fans and began a return to their previous, heavier sound.

[16] In a 2009 interview in which he assessed the band's discography up to that point, Brodsky said the album was "the big, slick rock record we spent way too much time and money making.