In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Rob Hoerburger regarded Rapture as a relatively "modest" album compared to more histrionic female singers, while praising the symbiotic relationship Baker shared with her band.

Occasionally, he believed, the groove-based music lacked variety, and the singer drifted into "some superfluous scatting and pseudo-jazz harmony", but Hoerburger ultimately deemed her "an acquired but enduring taste".

"[2] According to The Mojo Collection (2007), "when provocative new trends in black music were exploding from the street by the month, Baker kept her head and made a traditional (i.e., with its roots in the '70s) soul record with brooding, slow-burn minor tunes of romantic celebration and earthy longing.

[13] Promoted with two hit singles in "Sweet Love" and "Caught Up in the Rapture",[13] the album received significant airplay on both black radio and Top 40 formats, unlike Baker's 1983 debut The Songstress.

[17] It propelled Baker to stardom in soul and pop music during the late 1980s, winning two Grammy Awards and eventually sold over eight million copies worldwide.