John wrote the entirety of A Single Man (1978) with lyricist Gary Osborne, while the poorly received Victim of Love (1979) consisted entirely of songs by outside songwriters.

However, Geffen rejected six of the songs on the completed album, and so John agreed to return to the studio to record new material on the condition that he could work with Chris Thomas as producer.

[1] Ultimately, "Heart in the Right Place", "Carla/Etude", "Fanfare", "Chloe", and "Elton's Song" would be retained from the first version of the album, with the rest of the material being created after its initial rejection.

[2] Elizabeth Rosenthal, author of His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, considers the overarching theme of The Fox to be one of "sadness and disappointment", accentuated by the four-part suite which she believes to be the album's centerpiece.

Opening with "rapid piano arpeggiations", the track exerts what Rosenthal describes as a "blaring bravado", with a vocal performance alternating between a "barrel-sized" chest voice and a higher falsetto.

[17] She describes the song's lyrical content as being sung from the point of view of a "protagonist [who], after years of living within a mental fortress", is "finally in touch with his feelings" and "unafraid to let love enter his mind and heart.

"[17] In a retrospective of the album for PopMatters, Rich Wilhelm calls the song an "engaging, piano-based rocker" while also noting elements of 1970s Philadelphia soul.

[17] Featuring simple production emphasizing synthesizers and programmed drums, "Nobody Wins" also sees John utilize a lower vocal register than in past work.

"[22] Additionally, some reviewers[24] have suggested the song may have been written as a comment on statements regarding Fascism made by David Bowie, particularly his infamous remark that "Britain could benefit from a fascist leader."

Biographer David Buckley compares the suite to earlier works such as "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" (from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) and "Tonight" (from Blue Moves, 1976) due to its "dynamic marriage of instrumental music and song.

[14] This segues into "Fanfare", a short, synthesizer-based instrumental performed by James Newton Howard (which Rosenthal compares to New Age music) incorporating melodic elements of the following track.

[14] The final part of the suite, "Chloe", is a Fender Rhodes-laced ballad which also continues the use of orchestration (arranged by Newton Howard and Marty Paich).

[14] In an article ranking all of John's songs for Vulture, Shana Naomi Krochmal described the lyrical content as "a series of heartbroken and heartbreaking questions to a desperate lover", while Buckley notes the "confessional" tone of the words.

[2] Rosenthal interprets its lyrics as "the story of a person willingly living a life without purpose, motive, or dreams", while the music evokes the feelings of this "solitary" character, while also emphasizing the weaving of John's "in-flight piano" with Newton Howard's "happy-go-lucky synthesizer".

"[15] The album closes with the title track, which includes elements of gospel and country, the latter emphasized by prominent harmonica played by Mickey Raphael.

[2] Wilhelm finds the song provides a "friendly" yet "enigmatic" close to the album, while Rosenthal characterizes its lyrics as a "biographical sketch" with themes of perseverance and pushing back against critical backlash.

[31] While the video passed by mostly unnoticed, the clip for "Elton's Song" caused minor controversy due to its subject matter, depicting a student harboring a homosexual crush.

[33] For the French release, John chose to record the original version of the song, following up on the success of his duets with France Gall the previous year.

[30] John's decision against touring through 1981 limited the promotion of the album, which was compounded by a relatively low number of television appearances made by the musician at the time as well.

[30][12][11] Billboard picked The Fox as its "spotlight" album for the issue dated 30 May 1981, calling it "one of John's more consistently satisfying LPs in recent times."

[39] Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone felt that the large number of writing partners on the album helps to take John's material into "several complementary directions".

Holden also noted the growth of the John-Osborne writing partnership, declaring "Breaking Down Barriers" to be the duo's "most spirited achievement to date", while praising "Heart in the Right Place" for "evok[ing] rock-star petulance with an amusingly light-handed bitchiness."

While Holden found "Elton's Song" to be the album's lyrical high point, he felt its "tune is too fragmented to nail down the poignantly direct sentiments.

[41] Lindsay Planer was is apprehensive towards the album in his retrospective review for AllMusic, stating that its "dithering musical styles" lead to "an uneven and at times somewhat dated sound."

Additionally, he feels that the John-Osborne partnership was beginning to yield "impressive results" with "Heart in the Right Place", while also naming "Fascist Faces" and the title track as stronger points on the album.