Liberator met with mixed reviews. Mark LePage of
The Gazette wrote, "The last of the Brit synth-pop electro-hookers has found freshness by re-tooling the genre's best moments...
Liberator is
hook-mad and relentlessly catchy, and even mildly inventive in parts."
The Guardians Caroline Sullivan stated, "McCluskey can still turn out a catchy tune without so much as rumpling his cardigan. If the 12 here sound familiar, maybe it's because much of today's dance-pop is descended from OMD's early sound. Still, the LP does wander down a few new by-ways." Jeffrey Lee Puckett of
The Courier-Journal observed, "At least on much of
Liberator, [OMD] manages to tickle some latent fancy, coming off as breezy fun rather than canned button-pushing... OMD makes electronics bend to the will of the lovesick heart, drawing melancholy from machinery."
The Morning Calls Len Righi said, "If you long for the days when silly synth pop ruled...
Liberator will set your spirit free." Righi felt, however, that the bulk of the album "surrenders any claim to attention".
Neil Spencer of
The Observer stated, "
Liberator repeats the
[Sugar Tax] formula of swirling synths, crashing drum machines and trite, mournful songs; most of it sounds like the
Brookside theme with added words, but of such banalities are massive hits made."
Selects Dave Morrison described the record as "pleasant, disposable stuff", In a later review for
Classic Pop, Wyndham Wallace wrote that
Liberator "found OMD adrift", with McCluskey "embracing contemporary dance culture like a 'Cool Dad'."
AllMusic editor
Stephen Thomas Erlewine remarked, "While it is far from the experimental and edgy synth-pop that earned the group rave reviews in the early '80s,
[Liberator] is an enjoyable, lightweight collection of appealing dance-pop." ==Band response==