I started listening to what Randy Leago had done with “Resist,” and I began working with Viktor Krauss on “Better Times…” I had originally intended to do an all-solo acoustic album, but it became clear that I really wanted a blend of it to serve the songs.

[6] Liz Thomson of The Arts Desk rated The Light at the End of the Line five out of five stars, praising Ian's songwriting and "striking lyrics", continuing that "the album contains the tenderest of ballads".

[8] In Hot Press, Jackie Hayden gave this album a 7.5 out of 10, stating that "Ian's voice belies her age" and he also praised the session musicians.

[9] In No Depression, John Amen characterized this release as "Janis Ian moves seamlessly between activistic declarations and descriptive verse, her melodies crystalline, her voice imbued with hard-won wisdom".

There’s the clever, caustic political bent of her earliest work, the reflective, sophisticated pop of her CBS years, the folk-orientated styles of her 1990s Nashville comeback, and where she stands today.