Hi-Fi News & Record Review praised Velveteen as "some of the best pure pop of any type in the UK today",[7] while David Martin of Number One declared it "the best album of the year" and Transvision Vamp as "one of our most precocious young bands".
[9] Music Week reviewer Jeff Clark-Meads found the band more successful with "fast and loud" material, while noting that "there are enough tracks here with pace and raunch to carry the casual listener through the slower, limits-of-ability-defining tracks", and summarising: "Indeed, as a package the album has life, verve and muscle and will appeal to anybody who finds the band's singles attractive.
"[12] David Quantick, however, panned Velveteen in NME as "a heartless, brainless rummage through pop music's pockets", accusing Transvision Vamp of lacking "imagination, wit, or fun.
"[8] In the United States, Chicago Tribune critic Tom Popson wrote that "the vocal dipsy-doodle edges into overkill more than once, but just as often the band delivers arresting moments of fast-paced, trashy-toned music.
"[6] The Village Voice's Robert Christgau commented that lead singer Wendy James "does love-versus-sex and tragedy-of-fame almost as good as Patti now" and "should create enduring art for the next two–three years or as long as her attitude holds, whichever comes first.