Produced by Smith & Mighty, the album explores a relaxed style of soul and dance music flavoured by reggae, hip hop and house, featuring prominent electronic beats and sine bass, while Carlton sings love songs in falsetto.

[4] According to Oli Warwick, the "unfettered, home-brewed mixes" of the album hint at "how great The Call Is Strong might have been – but the project remains too sour in both Rob and Ray's memories.

[1] "Love and Pain" is a piano ballad which features double bass; reviewer Gary Crossing compared Carlton's singing on the song to Smokey Robinson.

[16] In a contemporary review for Select, Russell Brown described The Call Is Strong as a rarity among dance productions for being "so deferential to the artist and yet so quietly tough and inventive".

[10] Iestyn George of Record Mirror described the album as a "remarkably assured collection of songs" and praised Smith & Mighty's bass-heavy dub production.

"[11] Reviewing the album for Les Inrockuptibles, S. Davet grouped it alongside the work of Massive Attack for placing Bristol at the centre of innovative dance music, drawing attention to minimal rhythms, thick bass and spacious arrangements and Carlton's sensual, androgynous voice.

[18] In a 1991 feature for The Press and Journal, Steve Stewart wrote that Carlton was at "the forefront of the underground scene" and said the album "sets out a vision of dance music.

"[9] He wrote that both The Call Is Strong and Now Is Early established a blueprint for "how an artist album might harness the creativity of the rave, proof of concept for a singer-songwriter forging a distinct identity in this very British, very grass-roots format.

[9] Adamski names The Call Is Strong among his ten favourite albums, having been shown the record by Ricardo da Force on a European tour.

"[20] In a conversation with Hard Wax's Finn Johannsen for Electronic Beats, disc jockey Holger Klein highlighted the record for helping introduce UK club music to German audiences via its popularity at the Mannheim nightclub Milk!, saying "At that time, it was very state of the art to incorporate elements of dub, contemporary US R&B, classic soul, reggae, electronic sounds and even some swingbeat bits.