True Blue was generally well received by critics.
AllMusic's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it was "one of the great dance-pop albums", that showcases Madonna's skills as a "songwriter, record-maker, provocateur, and entertainer through its wide reach, accomplishment, and sheer sense of fun". Erika Wexler from
Spin wrote: "Madonna knows her days as the chanteuse for teenage romance are numbered. With perfect timing, [she] gently distanced herself from that role, and although some of the songs [on
True Blue] have the sophistication of a
training bra, there are glowing moments".
The New York Times Stephen Holden noted that, despite lacking the "gleaming ultra-sleek aural surfaces" of
Like a Virgin,
True Blues made up of "shrewdly crafted teen-age and pre-teen-age ditties that reveal Madonna's unfailing commercial instincts", and find her singing with "a lot more heart". This opinion was shared by
Rolling Stone, where
Davitt Sigerson referred to
True Blue as a "sturdy, dependable, lovable" album, and singled out the singer's voice for sounding "better than ever".
PopMatters Peter Piatkowski also applauded the singer's more mature vocals, and deemed the record "brilliant, one that speaks to its time but also celebrates the disparate cultures that influence [Madonna's] sound at the moment".
True Blue is the "most polished" of Madonna's first three albums, according to El Hunt from the
Evening Standard. In the same vein, Mary Von Aue from
Stereogum said it has "more vocal range and lyrical complexities" than
Like a Virgin and
Madonna.
True Blue was hailed "nine tracks of 80s pop perfection [...] Madonna's strongest effort from that decade" by the staff of
Gay Times. For Joseph Earp from Australian website
Junkee, "with its era-defining production, and sweaty sheen of subversion, [
True Blue is] the singer's way of understanding everything that came afterwards [...] most pop singers never release a record this good in their whole career". Lucy O'Brien pointed out that, whereas her debut and
Like a Virgin were a "sound in development",
True Blue sees Madonna "nail[ing] her signature style – rhythmic, dramatic, danceable, and distinctively melodic". Replacing
Nile Rodgers with Leonard and Bray resulted in a "less polished, but more varied" album, according to
The Sunday Telegraphs Larry Nager. The review ended on a somewhat critical note:
True Blue is "classic pop [...] an entertaining album's worth of catchy, danceable tunes", despite "not much content beneath the candy-coating", concluded Nager.
True Blues main flaw is that its five singles are "so strong they overshadow" the rest of the tracks, which seem "slight by comparison", wrote Daryl Easlea. In less favorable reviews, John Quayle from the
Observer–Reporter dismissed the record as "warmed over
Go-Gos material", but applauded the singles for being "strong enough to convince even her worst critics that Madonna does have talent – and lots of it". Mary Von Aue noted that the album experiments with "different sounds that are well executed as singles", but as a whole sounds "disjointed", concluding that, "[
True Blue] doesn't live up to the strength of [its singles]". Finally, Larry Kilman, writing for American newspaper
The Evening News, compared it negatively to the work of girl groups such as
the Ronettes and
the Shangri-Las, dismissing it as "mindless, inspid [and] air-headed", adding that, "[its] slick production and arrangements disguise much of the tininess of [Madonna's] voice [...] But that's as good as [
True Blue] gets". == Commercial performance ==