Black Cherry received generally positive reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average score of 72, based on 22 reviews.
Uncut praised the change in the duo's musical direction, concluding, "I doubt there'll be many better albums released this year."
Alexis Petridis of
The Guardian called the album "laudable, challenging and immensely enjoyable". Sal Cinquemani of
Slant Magazine opined, "Whether it be soothing techno-ballads [...] or custom-made clubs tracks [...], Goldfrapp know how to draw you in and, more importantly, hook you."
Rolling Stones Pat Blashill noted that "[t]ons of bands imitate the sounds of the early Eighties, but Goldfrapp use
New Wave as a way to evoke a long history of shiny Euro-lounge music."
Spin commented that on
Black Cherry, the duo "downplay the 'cinematic' strings in favor of buzzing live-wire synths. And singer Alison Goldfrapp still wails like
Kate Bush haunting a fog-soaked moor."
Mojo praised the album as "lucid and ambiguous... beautifully schizophrenic and poised on the edge of ruin". Dorian Lynskey of
Blender wrote, "Although a few tracks retain
Felt Mountains eerie beauty,
Black Cherrys natural habitat is less supper club than strip club, and Goldfrapp sound right at home." Andy Hermann of
PopMatters viewed
Black Cherry as "a weird, edgy album, the work of two doggedly maverick talents chasing their muses wherever they take them". Wes May of
About.com dubbed it a "rare electronica album of warmth and depth" and "the ultimate chillout pleasure".
Drowned in Sounds Gen Williams expressed that the album's "crystalline, neon-edged beauty, its pulsing army of beats and Alison's lush, lethargically versatile vocals, swinging between sultry and seraphic throughout, make it—for now at least—a largely satisfying record that indicates imminent and deserved success for Goldfrapp."
Q deemed the album "thoroughly likeable" despite its "inconsistency". In a mixed review, Heather Phares of
AllMusic commended Goldfrapp for their "artistic risk-taking", but felt that the album "sounds unbalanced, swinging between delicate, deceptively icy ballads and heavier, dance-inspired numbers without finding much of a happy medium between them." Michael Idov of
Pitchfork criticised the duo's switch to electro music, while describing
Black Cherry as "a soundtrack to excruciatingly banal seduction". Jonah Weiner of
Entertainment Weekly panned the album's slower tracks as "boring dirges and space-age
Muzak".
PopMatters included the album on its list of the Top 50 Albums of 2003, ranking it at number 46. It was listed at number 33 on
Drowned in Sounds list of the Top 75 Albums of 2003.
Black Cherry earned Goldfrapp a nomination for Best British Dance Act at the
2004 Brit Awards, but they lost to
Basement Jaxx. ==Commercial performance==