The album was the group's last with the songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland and also features covers of contemporary pop hits selected by Berry Gordy, among them Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter", the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renée" and two songs originally recorded by the Monkees.

[2][3][4] In 2020, Reach Out was ranked number 429 in Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

[8] Among retrospective reviews, BBC Music's Daryl Easlea has described Reach Out as the Four Tops' greatest album, praising its cohesion and noting that it "can be seen as the high-water mark of the first decade of Motown".

Easlea considered the album and The Four Tops Greatest Hits to contain "some of the most passionate, soulful music, exquisite playing and well-written melodies of all time".

[9] AllMusic's John Bush was critical of the album's cover songs, opining "though it's one of the best Four Tops records of the '60s, Reach Out still feels weighted down by a few vain attempts at adult pop crossover".