Commenting on the decision to record a covers album, Mark Lanegan said: "when I was a kid in the late sixties and early seventies, my parents and their friends would play the records of Andy Williams, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, music with string arrangements and men singing songs that sounded sad whether they were or not.

At home my folks were also listening to country music, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, George Jones and Vern Gosdin were some of our favorites.

[4] Writing for Allmusic, Thom Jurek gave the album a positive review, stating: "Imitations is a fine collection that reveals the depth of the songs through the openness and considerable skill of the singer.

"[6] In a mostly positive review, The Guardian's Michael Hann wrote: "Imitations works best when Lanegan, his voice as dark and smoky as one of those old-fashioned gentlemen's clubs, tackles something so unexpected it forces you to reappraise the song: "You Only Live Twice", in particular, is a triumph, the grandeur and drama of the Bond replaced by a delicate weariness.

"[7] In a mixed review for the NME, Jeremy Allan, wrote: "Up there with Cash's American series this is not.