The compilation, the first album released on the label, features an exclusive live recording of The Orb and is said to prove ambient house's variety and worldwide emergence.

"[3] Believing the compilation to prove that ambient house "encompasses much more than just pretty tunes with slow basslines and running through them," Perry noted the inclusion of "pleasant head-bobbers" such as "Digi-Out" by The Infinite Wheel and "Halcyon" by Orbital, "pure drifts of ambience" like "Sky High" by The Irresistible Force "Hub" by The Black Dog and the combining of the genre's "woshy sounds" with "heady percussion" on "O.O.B.E."

"[3] While many of the artists on the CD are those that launched the ambient house genre in the UK, several international artists appear, namely New York artist Moby with his track "Infinite", Detroit techno pioneer Derrick May with his Rhythm Is Rhythm song "Kao-tic Harmony (Relic of Relics)" and Berlin-based Visions of Shiva's "Perfect Morning", which prove, in Parry's words, that the genre is "a global thing.

[1] In Billboard magazine, Dominic Pride described The Positiva Ambient Collection as "weighing in" on the compilations market which he described as "one area in which the majors and indies compete, and is a vital way of introducing new music to buyers.

"[9] Nottingham based producer Ben Roberts (Xoundboy) noted that The Positiva Ambient Collection "lived permanently in my CD player for about a year.