[20] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic believed Lambert was able to expand stylistically by relying more on other songwriters for the record: "She's digging deeper than ever before and finding considerable riches.

"[3] In Country Weekly, Ken Tucker deemed it her best album so far and hailed Lambert as a matured "interpreter of songs, whether she's written them or not",[21] while Genevieve Koski from The A.V.

Club felt it showcased some of her most intriguing songs yet, proving "her willingness to color outside the lines of country-music convention goes beyond lyrical statements of bad-assitude.

Writing for MSN Music, Robert Christgau called Four the Record a "basic quality country album" highlighted by the harder opening songs before delving into trite ballads catering to the housewife demographic, such as "Dear Diamond", "Oklahoma Sky", and "Better in the Long Run".

[15] Spin magazine's Theon Weber lamented most of the lyrics, which he found "flat, even when they're Lambert's",[19] while Jon Caramanica of The New York Times viewed it as a foray into alternative country featuring some of her least inspired singing and songwriting.