Charlotte Robinson of PopMatters writes that "Zombie Birdhouse [...] has reached near-legendary status for its oddity", and that it is "full of droning synthesizers, Afro-style beats and pseudo-poetic, free-associative lyrics".

"[2] According to writer Ross Horton, the album exhibits "a kind of greasy, sweaty, sleazy rock 'n' roll fitted with a sharp electronic edge," with sporadic musical comparisons to Suicide, Throbbing Gristle and Talking Heads.

"[8] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, naming it Iggy's most experimental album to date, praised "music-meister" Rob Duprey's interesting stylistic continuity, but panned Pop's "slogans, social theory, in-jokes, bad poetry, and vocal dramaturgy.

"[11] Sandy Robertson of Sounds felt although the album was "hardly challenging like early Pop overdosed-and-on-his-knees binges," Chris Stein courageously provides little of his familiar style; "instead it's a bespectacled text.

"[10] In his retrospective review, Mark Deming of AllMusic wrote "sadly, Iggy himself didn't rise especially well to the occasion here; his lyrics are often a bizarre mélange of free-association without any clear focus, and one senses that Stein was a bit too awed by working with his hero to have the nerve to tell him when his vocals were wandering off-pitch (or out of tune altogether).