The singer worked with a variety of writers and producers on the album, including Absolute, Cathy Dennis, Julian Gallagher, Stephen Lipson, Mike Peden, and Richard Stannard as well as Swedish musicians such as Jörgen Elofsson, David Kreuger, and Per Magnusson.

It went on to sell over 1.7 million copies, and on the official list of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK issued later that year, it was ranked eleventh.

The album's final single, another double A-side, consisting of "Don't Let Me Down" and "You and I", was released in aid of Children in Need, and reached the top five in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

[5] Julie Broadfoot from BBC Music wrote that Young "got on with making an impressive, timeless, debut album [...] A quality cast have been picked.

"[10] Michael Osborn of musicOMH noted "This debut offering seems to have struck a balance between making the best of Will Young's particular talents – and the musical niche where he excels.

"[11] Allmusic editor Jon O'Brien found that "Young proved himself to be one of the most gifted and unique vocalists a U.K. talent show has seen" but called From Now On "an inconsistent effort."

It would be great to see him rock-out Avril Lavigne-style, up-tempo à la Kylie or even salsa like Ricky Martin, but that might be expecting a bit much.

As predicted, it throws in some pent-up S Club pop that must have been originally intended for judges' favourite Gareth Gates' anticipated win, but the sum of the greatness of the other songs out-weighs this".