Marisa Brown from AllMusic gave the album 3 out of 5, saying; "Most of the material on The Essential is culled from their 1987 self-titled debut and 1989s These Here Are Crazy Times, and includes nearly all the singles from both of these records. Tracked chronologically, the compilation shows the progression of the band's sound well, as it was shaped both by the passage of time and the departure of main songwriter and guitarist Richard Pleasance. Said sound, unfortunately, becomes a lot more derivative and less interesting as the years pass, the college rock energy and grit that initially attracted fans not as well represented in songs like "All," "Bettadaze," and "Gimme." As The Essential is slightly more in-depth than the 1998 'best-of' The Best Things, though some of the later tracks are different, it doesn't add much interest for a fan of the band, but it does—and is intended to—act as a primer on a group that was often overlooked outside of Australia, and in that it succeeds."[2]
