Christopher Blagg of the Boston Herald commented: "Somewhere L. Ron Hubbard was smiling," and Mike Hobart of the Financial Times described the album as "a fine programme of jazz-fusion".

It reached number eight on the U.S. Top Contemporary Jazz charts in September 2004, and garnered Corea a 2004 Grammy Award nomination for instrumental arrangement for the track "The Long Passage".

[10][11] According to Publishers Weekly, Corea's soundtrack to the novel was issued by Galaxy Press to give the company's "enormous marketing muscle" the ability to "tap into the vast Hubbard fan base".

[13] The album reached number eight on Billboard magazine's Top Contemporary Jazz charts in September 2004,[17] and Corea earned a 2004 Grammy Award nomination for instrumental arrangement for the track "The Long Passage".

[22] In a review of the work in The Washington Post, Geoffrey Himes writes that "Corea occasionally falls into his old bad habits of jazz-rock fusion excess, substituting frenetic virtuosity for melodic content and emotional connection on tunes such as the album-opening 'Check Blast' and 'Hound of Heaven.

"[24] Bob Young of the Boston Herald described the album as "music that shifts continually from bright, aggressive jazz fusion to melodic tranquility and back again".

[5] James F. Collins gave the album a positive review in The Harvard Crimson, writing: "To The Stars is a testament to his [Corea's] unflagging creativity and is a proud addition to his already expansive discography.

"[2] Mike Hobart reviewed the album for Financial Times, commenting that "once the band had delivered its first unison riff, the music's inspirational source was irrelevant as a fine programme of jazz-fusion poured out".

[10] For PopMatters, Associate Music Editor Justin Cober-Lake writes: "In many ways, it's a supreme accomplishment with difficult technique passages and broad soundscapes; on the other hand, it's a journey that's too long to take.

"[3] In his review of Corea's later work The Ultimate Adventure, Will Friedwald of The New York Sun writes: "'To the Stars' was trite, electronic bubblegum music that sounded like a cheesy video-game soundtrack.