[12] "Static" was originally an instrumental track, composed by Jeff Tweedy; Straw maintains she wrote and recorded the song with an engineer while Wilco was at lunch.

[15] Trouser Press wrote that "Straw's vocals are tremendous throughout, and the album has a tougher tone musically than the overly glossy Surprise.

"[12] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution deemed the album "a resilient cycle of country-rock songs about hopes, longings and the memories of complicated relationships.

"[19] The Dayton Daily News concluded that "her infectious roots rock melodies are surprisingly upbeat, given the subject matter, and her rich voice—capable of fierce passion or a soft country lilt—is simply beyond compare.

"[22] The St. Louis Post-Dispatch labeled the album "a fair-to-middlin' collection of pop dirges and country-rock tunes on which her voice veers from adequate to lovely.