[4] In a review of the album at salt peanuts*, Eyal Hareuveni called Free Dirt (Live) "a work of love for an era and for music-making that is almost impossible today".

[5] Hareuveni said "it captures beautifully the amazing creative spirit and post-punk energy" that Skeleton Crew possessed, and "radiat[es] an uplifting power", while emphasizing just how well Frith, Cora, Newhouse and Parkins connected.

[5] Rick Anderson wrote at CD Hotlist that melodies on Free Dirt often degenerate into "scratches and caterwauls", while improvised noise sometimes morphs into folk tunes.

"[6]Reviewing Free Dirt in the Italian magazine Ondarock [it], Alessandro Di Tizio said this album is an important chronicle of Skeleton Crew's music.

Di Tizio called their composed material "always beautiful, complex and highly creative" (brani sempre belli, complessi e altamente creativi), and added that the new songs on the second CD give a glimpse of the direction Skeleton Crew may have taken had they not disbanded in early 1986.