The simplistic nature of the album's music was caused by the technical limitations of Minecraft's sound engine, which made earlier concepts unfeasible.

Since release, Volume Alpha has been lauded by critics, who praised its usage in the game and its merits as a standalone ambient work.

Rosenfeld described Volume Alpha as his most important work, and the success of the album led him to pursue music creation full-time.

[3] Prior to creating Volume Alpha, independent musician Daniel Rosenfeld (known professionally as C418) was a small artist, mainly producing experimental albums inspired by Aphex Twin that he described as "making no sense.

His approach was inspired by Dwarf Fortress (2006), where he viewed the game's lower graphical quality that would otherwise be a turn-off to be backed up by music that would encourage the player to continue playing.

Alongside the standard CD and LP releases, a limited edition version that came in the form of a transparent vinyl was announced, with only 1,000 units being produced.

Several critics have highlighted the usage of Volume Alpha in Minecraft, believing its music to work alongside the aesthetic of the game.

[2][6][16] AllMusic's Andy Kellman wrote Volume Alpha to be one of "many immersive aspects" of Minecraft, though believed that the album had good track variety, writing "none of the recurring elements are pronounced or simple enough to become fatiguing with repeated play.

"[16] Luke Plunkett of Kotaku called Volume Alpha "as tranquil as a good night's sleep," and a great ambient album.

[12] Original Sound Version's Richard McDonald highlighted the album's usage in Minecraft as leading to "very strong emotions that few games manage to master, or even hint at", which he viewed as consequentially being heavily nostalgic.

[2] Kellen found Volume Alpha to be a good demonstration of Rosenfeld's work, one that made it "easy to hear [...] why he has been compared" to influential composers such as Erik Satie and Brian Eno.

[22] When asked about the third album in a 2021 interview with Anthony Fantano, Rosenfeld commented, "I have something—I consider it finished—but things have become complicated, especially as Minecraft is now a big property, so I don't know.

"[23] Since the release of Volume Beta, other artists besides Rosenfeld have created music for the game, such as Celeste (2018) composer Lena Raine.

Alongside "Sweden", six other tracks from Volume Alpha were in the top 25 on Spotify at the time, these being "Minecraft" (2), "Subwoofer Lullaby" (7), "Wet Hands" (8), "Key" (18), "Haggstrom" (23), and "Mice on Venus" (24).

[9] Rosenfeld considers the album to be his most important and successful work, and the one that helped him create his career as an independent music artist.

[31] In 2022 and 2023, Volume Alpha experienced a resurgence in popularity,[15] appearing on multiple global charts and being nominated for Top Dance/Electronic Album at the Billboard Music Awards of 2022, though it lost to Illenium's Fallen Embers.