Forbidden Island was Denny's first album to be recorded and released after vibraphonist Arthur Lyman left the group to pursue his own solo career.

Upon its release in May 1958, Billboard awarded the album four stars and wrote: "Interesting treatment of exotic original and standards .

"[2] Richie Unterberger, in a review for AllMusic.com gave the album four stars and noted that it mixed "island sounds, easy listening, and Asian/world music accents.

"[1] Australian critic John Masters wrote in December 1959 that high fidelity addicts may enjoy Denny's "conglomeration of weird and wonderful imitations of tropical rhythms" and opined that, although "most of the content .

is sugar coated trash, the recorded sound is outstanding and for this reason the disc is commended, as a technical showpiece only, to stereophiles.