The album received generally positive reviews from critics. Rolling Stone said it was "impressive to hear No Doubt summon the musical imagination to transcend the formula that used to imprison them" and ranked Rock Steady number 316 on its 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic referred to the album as "a good, hooky, stylish mainstream pop record". Entertainment Weekly remarked that there was "something oddly flimsy" about No Doubt that prevented it from becoming a milestone in pop music, but that the band's "party-throwing skills improve with each new gathering." Stylus Magazine commented that the band sounded like it had "growing pains" and was unsure of its place in mainstream rock, predicting that No Doubt would either become a singles band "or go all Radiohead on us and make an album of avant-jazz-electro-acid-funk-polka."