In 1989, the
Trouser Press Record Guide described the album as "a stylized set of
dreamscapes and
consciousness streams... It's arguably Wire's most ruminative album, and while immersion in it won't, as 'Silk Skin Paws' suggests, 'wring your senses' – that's more a job for
Chairs Missing – it will twirl your
lobes a time or two." However, in a later edition,
Trouser Press held a more critical view, writing "Wire stayed the
dance-pop course with diminishing results on
A Bell Is a Cup." At the time of the album's release, Wire faced accusations that they had abandoned their earlier rough-edged sound for a softer, more refined style.
Graham Lewis dismissed such criticism:
AllMusic gave the album a laudatory review, describing the record as "arguably Wire's best album and certainly its most accessible... a work of modern rock genius." ==Cover art==