Brian Mansfield writes for AllMusic, "In his heart he's still country, but he revs the tempos, cranks the guitars, and lays on the horns as he takes off screaming into the Arkansas Delta.

Michael Franklin of Outlaw Magazine writes in an interview with David Lynn Jones, "Jones released Mixed Emotions (on Liberty Records) in 1992, containing exactly zero hits and no charting singles.

It did, however, have a couple of songs about religious wars, specifically in the Middle East ("The Land Of Ala", "Judgement Day").

In the boot-scootin’ boogie lights of 1992 Nashville, the expansive Mixed Emotions was a non-starter.

Criminally ignored, it was an uncut diamond swept away by a tide of John Deere Green.