 In a retrospective review, AllMusic critic Brett Hartenbach wrote, "As a whole, this record trumps anything that its predecessors had to offer, almost to the point where it's difficult to imagine that it followed the release of Joy Will Find a Way by only a year.The sound that was merely suggested on his previous recordings is fully realized here... His first U.S. release since 1972, In the Falling Dark may not have made Bruce Cockburn a household name, but it did mark his emergence as an important artist.