AllMusic editor Leo Stanley found that The Day "confirms his skill for subtle, inventive songwriting and accessible, polished yet soulful production [...] He is still compelling – his voice is as smooth as silk, and nearly as seductive – but it doesn't quite have the force of personality as his greatest productions.

Nevertheless, The Day qualifies as state-of-the-art mid-'90s soul, featuring a handful of terrific songs, and a lot of extremely pleasurable filler.

"[6] David Browne from Entertainment Weekly wrote that on the album, Babyface "immerses himself in the same hot-tub soul he's applied to everyone from Toni Braxton to Eric Clapton.

All the Babyface trademarks — the crisp, unobtrusive percussion, the silky guitars, the harmonies that blanket the melodies like a quilt — are laid out like a three-piece suit.

But more so than any previous album he’s made, The Day is chockful of luscious, gently persuasive songs, from doe-eyed testimonials to his devotion to misty childhood reminiscences.