Bob Remstein of Wall of Sound praised the album's catchiness and clever humour, dubbing the album "smart-rock". David Wild of Rolling Stone magazine called King James Version "barbed", but praised the album as "a step forward in both ambition and accomplishment", describing the album as "exceptionally tuneful postmodern pop in the wry tradition of XTC and the Posies". Writing about the album in passing, Eric Weisbard of SPIN described King James Version as "[kicking] their debut album's ass", and praised the Nelson's greater confidence as a frontman and the band's improved cohesiveness. Critical assessments on the lyrical content of King James Version were more mixed. Remstein felt that Nelson's lyrics were overdone at points, and Sullivan took issue with the "caustic" nature of the lyrics; Weisbard also questioned whether the album's "witty swagger and rejection of novelty grade goofiness" would be misunderstood by listeners. However, both Remstein and Sullivan agreed that the album's smart humour prevailed over both of the highlighted issues of the lyrics. Similarly, Alex Pappademas of CMJ New Music Monthly praised Nelson for his improved songwriting, and for "[figuring] out how to make assets out of the traits that used to make him annoying". Despite being well received, King James Version failed to chart on the US Billboard 200 chart. By 2005, King James Version had reportedly sold 25,000 copies in the United States, a number which paled in comparison to the sales of Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?, which had sold over 500,000 copies by the same date. Legacy The members of Harvey Danger were greatly upset by the failure of King James Version, which they attributed to London-Sire's ineffectual marketing and distribution of the album, and felt as though the album had not truly been "released". "Technically it was released, but it was released so poorly and haphazardly promoted that we just felt we had been robbed of an experience that was important to us." As a result of the album's failure, which Nelson described as "life altering", the members of Harvey Danger decided to split up. "We inevitably started hating each other, because who else was there to hate? We broke up because we had nothing else to say to each other at that point." The band's hiatus, which started after the band played their last show in April 2001, lasted until April 2004. During the hiatus, the members of the band pursued