AllMusic critic John Bush calls "Standing in the Shadows of Love" "dramatic" and "impassioned.

"[6] Cash Box said the single is a "driving ode [that] is filled with a solid romance lyric in the quartet’s usual powerful style.

[9] Hamilton remarks on the song's power to conjure up "mournful" emotions, and particularly highlights the coldness of lyrics such as "standing in the shadows of love getting ready for the heartaches to come.

"[9] Hamilton praises the intensity of Levi Stubbs' lead vocal and how it can make the listener believe that he is about to have a nervous breakdown.

[10] He uses the metaphor of Wile E. Coyote to describe the singer's emotions as he waits for the "anvil to drop on his fervent love.