[7] Ralph Traitor of Sounds declared that "Dinosaur Jr have given us two great sides of born innocent modern punk",[13] while Graeme Kay commented in Q that Green Mind should "consolidate their reputation as purveyors of quality hardcore.

"[4] Tom Moon, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, noted that, "while the solos include some brilliantly snarling episodes, it is the remarkably restrained rhythm parts that fully reveal Mascis' unorthodox approach.

[12] In NME, Stuart Maconie deemed the album "under-done" at times but concluded that the band "remain a fascinating oddment in rock's haberdashery", playing "grunge with feeling and added cleverness.

[8] Writing in retrospect for AllMusic, Fred Thomas opined that Green Mind "ushered in the version of Dinosaur Jr. that would live out the rest of the '90s, with Mascis' lyrical language of slang and vaguities hemming him into a lonely stoner figure and the warm-but-distant tone of the songwriting exposing an enormous debt to Neil Young for the first time in the band's catalog.

"[6] Pitchfork's Jess Harvell observed that while "the music is just a step on from where Dino had arrived at on Bug ... throughout the album, Mascis' solos become more controlled bursts of classic rock, less spirals off the dirt track into the ditch of fuzz and mud.