"Good Times" marks a return by Armatrading to the "tough blues roots"[6] she had last displayed on the song "Mean Old Man" from the Whatever's for Us album.

[3] AllMusic reviewer William Ruhlmann gave the opinion that "Hearts and Flowers" is "an incremental development in the artist's work [that] doesn't contain any songs that rank among her best".

[9] In The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Colin Larkin said the album "demonstrated that although the quality of Armatrading's output was seldom less than exemplary, it rarely achieved its commercial desserts.

"[10] In the book She-Bop: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop, and Soul, writer Lucy O'Brien referred to the album as Armatrading's "most declarative in years" and praised the "sharp perception of her lyrics".

[11] David Quantick, writing in the New Musical Express in June 1990, praised the album for being "emotional, intelligent and full of a hundred vocal tricks" and singled out the tracks "More than One Kind of Love" and "Something In the Air Tonight" for special mention.