Lester Bangs, in
Rolling Stone, wrote: "Musically,
Kaya is a succession of the most tepid reggae clichés, pristinely performed and recorded, every last bit of tourist bait (down to the wood blocks) in place just like a Martin Denny record." The
Bay State Banner noted that "the Wailers take freely from Gamble & Huff's chords, Euro-disco's burping bass, and pop-soul ballads' blithe strings and synthesizers, but they funk up and condense these styles and use reggae's chicken scratch and snap-on drumming as disco employs congas: for a counter-voice to handle the unspeakable passions in a song."
Robert Christgau said, "If this is MOR, it's MOR like good Steely Dan—MOR with a difference." Christgau added, "Marley has sung with more apparent passion, it's true, but never more subtly, and his control of the shift in conception that began with
Exodus is now absolute. He hasn't abandoned his apocalyptic vision—just found a day-to-day context for it." ==Track listing==