[1][2][3] Upon its release, Johnny Dee of NME gave a mixed review of Bad Vibes.

He commented that, like Cole's previous two solo albums, there was "plenty to recommend" and praised the "majestic" "Morning Is Broken", the "lyrical wisecracks" of "So You'd Like to Save the World" and the "druggy Beatles drawl" of "Love You So What".

He felt the album then "very quickly get[s] bogged down in arty sleaze", picking "Wild Mushrooms" as the "nadir" and adding that "there's more lyrical embarrassments" on "Can't Get Arrested".

"[4] Sarra Manning of Melody Maker noted the album's "definite Sixties timbre, as in little acoustic refrains, gently thumping piano and windy chords like raindrops on windowpanes" and described Cole as "a slightly worn voice that breaks into throaty emphasis on a caustic word".

She was critical of "Fall Together" and "Can't Get Arrested" for being "truly horrendous Beatles' pastiches", but concluded, "Forget all your ill-conceived notions of what's credible and what's not and make room for 11 songs that put some aesthetic equilibrium back in your life.