It was the 61st highest-selling album of 1994 in the UK[citation needed] and was certified platinum by the BPI in February 2007,[8] for sales exceeding 300,000 copies.

On Tori Amos' second solo album, the singer-songwriter continued to offer piano-driven rock songs dealing with religion, gender, and sexuality.

A limited edition release of the album commemorating the Australian tour included a second disc entitled More Pink, a collection of rare B-sides like "Little Drummer Boy" and a cover version of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You", was issued in November 1994.

"Past the Mission", featuring backing vocals from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, was the third single from the album in all territories.

The US "Cornflake Girl" CD single, which had different artwork to international pressings, contained a radio edit of the title track, plus the songs "Daisy Dead Petals" and "Honey".

A limited edition second CD single for "Cornflake Girl" was issued in the UK, containing cover versions of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You", Jimi Hendrix's "If 6 Was 9", and Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit".

Part one of the UK CD single "Pretty Good Year" contained the B-sides "Home on the Range – Cherokee Edition" and "Daisy Dead Petals".

Reviewing Under the Pink for Rolling Stone, Marie Elsie St. Léger opined that the album "doesn't match Amos' riveting, piano-only live performances, but it sure comes close", calling it an "honest reporting of a life fraught with turmoil and disappointment.

"[23] Chicago Tribune critic Brad Webber noted "the latent feminism" throughout Under the Pink and highlighted Amos's "tough veneer" and "genuine" emotion,[17] while USA Today's Edna Gundersen said that Amos had made "big strides" with an album that "finds her blasting patriarchy and breaking free of religious repression, victimhood and sexual guilt.

"[25] Jean Rosenbluth of the Los Angeles Times, however, found Amos's lyrics "so obtuse—in an overreaching stab at profundity—that they're almost meaningless",[19] a sentiment echoed by John Harris of NME, who likened listening to the album to being "locked in a semantic castle".

"[16] Writing for Record Collector, Nicola Rayner said that the album, like its 1992 predecessor Little Earthquakes, explored "weighty subjects in raw, confessional songs that reimagined the piano as a sensual and provocative instrument.

"[21] A double-disc version of Under the Pink was released on November 14, 1994[26] by East West to coincide with Amos's tour of Australia and New Zealand.