Completing the lineup was former Julian Cope band bass guitarist James Eller and session drummer David Palmer (while D.C. Collard provided live keyboards).

Instead of the darkly polished dance-pop styling of earlier albums Soul Mining and Infected, Mind Bomb opens up the music to reveal a slow, winding textured world of sound, thanks in no small measure to Marr.

"[12] The Encyclopedia of Popular Music called it "bombastic in tone and filled with lyrical diatribes and anti-religious rants allied to distinctly unmelodic songs.

"[6] The Los Angeles Times called it "an embarrassing exercise in breast-beating," writing that "this bloated record is doubly distressing considering that it’s the work of the same man who turned out one of the most mysterious and lovely pop tunes of the ‘80s, 'Uncertain Smile'.

"[13] In a retrospective review, Stylus Magazine wrote that "it’s easy to let the seemingly prescient relevance of the lyrics to Mind Bomb outweigh the actual music, which would be a shame because, with or without those words, it’s still a great record.