It features contributions from guest musicians, including Cherrelle, David Eiland, and Lisa Keith, and is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of O'Neal's early work.

[6][7][8] Over the course of the album, the themes that are played out include O'Neal's advances towards a particular woman in the room ("What Can I Say to Make You Love Me"), as well as his observations on other attendees of the party – for instance a courting couple ("The Lovers"), a spiteful gossip-monger ("Hearsay"), a loudmouth – implied to be a groupie ("Fake"), and a nagging ex-lover ("Criticize"), unrequited admiration ("Crying Overtime"), and culminating in the finale ("When the Party's Over"), where O'Neal finally persuades the woman to stay at the conclusion of the soirée.

[7] The production focuses on computerised sounds that, according to one reviewer, "speak for themselves" without closely imitating "real" bass or guitar, resulting in a straight "techno-funk" style.

[10] "Fake" and "Criticize", described by writer Marcello Carlin as containing a "gargantuan futurist fury",[11] have been called typical Jam and Lewis dance tracks.

is another dance track,[9] with a 14-second intro that Carlin described as foreshadowing the work of Boards of Canada,[11] while "The Lovers" features O'Neal expressing his romantic side to "a propulsive backbeat...with headswaying keyboards.

[10] "Never Knew Love Like This", which features shimmering synths,[14] showcases the singer's "vast range, as he deals some breezy [George] Benson-like crooning", with wavering saxophone accompaniment.

[9] Among contemporary reviews, Eric Snider of Tampa Bay Times described Jam and Lewis as the best contemporary producers in pop music because they "[use] machines to create real, soulful sounds", and deemed Hearsay to be full of "simple, snappy Jam/Lewis melodies, punchy dance grooves and a few lush ballads," with–despite the minimal guitar and saxophone work and absence of drums–a remarkable "level of soul", adding that the production "wants its beat-heavy techno-funk style taken at face".

However, they added that Hearsay avoids this fate because it matches the duo with "a truly gifted singer", writing that the album "is listenable off the dance floor as well as being a moving monster.

"[7] Hugh Wyatt of Daily News described O'Neal as one of the smoothest R&B singers in over a decade, with "the potential to follow up in the footsteps of Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye and Ted Pendergrass.

"[19] Kevin Connal of The Boston Globe wrote that Hearsay continued Jam and Lewis' winning formula, deeming the duo to be "masterful technicians at making studio recordings come to life with popping vigor.

"[12] A reviewer for Uxbridge and Hillingdon Gazette was less favourable, writing that the album comprised "steady yet predictable disco" that, despite O'Neal's impressive delivery, lacks "any real identity".

[11] Thomas Inkeep, also for Stylus Magazine, described Hearsay as "the finest R&B album of the '80s not made by Prince, a perfect marriage of songs, production, and singer.