Servos praised the band's quiet-loud dynamic approach, and noted that Lazzara's ability to switch easily from singing to screaming despite his "somewhat raspy voice" set it apart as a release that would "rival any emo record to come out for some time". Rolling Stones Gil Kaufman lauded how the album made the band sound unique among their emo peers, many times averting from "sad-sack emo pitfalls" into "pop-infused hardcore" and "enlightened, dramatic lyrics" describing "heartache that teeter[s] between despondency and dark vengeance". Peter White of Drowned in Sound enthusiastically noted that the album, which featured "nihilistic" pop songs that often employed "monster riffs" and screams similar to Obituary, would be a landmark of a new musical movement, with the potential to shift nu metal bands such as Limp Bizkit out of the mainstream in favor of emo. Kludge writer Ben Rayner applauded the band's overall execution of the "emo-punk blueprint", and noted that it would appeal to fans of Saves the Day and the Movielife. Despite praise for Taking Back Sunday's musical approach on Tell All Your Friends, some reviewers gave the album criticism for being too similar to other emo recordings around the time of its release. While Morris was mostly pleased with the release, he criticized the originality of the album's material, and Servos noted a "cookie cutter" emo sound present. Stuart Green of Exclaim! wrote positively of the release, but that while the album was "a spirited and well-produced" work, it arrived at a time when the presence of the music scene it belonged to was growing so rapidly that the album failed to stand out. While BBC Music's Olli Siebelt echoed this concern, he also credited the band with making an effort to stand out by including influences from post-punk, nu metal and hardcore punk. According to Siebelt, Taking Back Sunday composed songs which were both "upbeat and emotionally aggressive". Siebelt compared the album to All and the Descendents, saying that it retained "enough of its own identity" to lift the band above its peers. Commercial performance Before its release, Juarbe thought Tell All Your Friends was good but was unsure how it would do commercially. At the time, all of Victory's releases were gauged against Thursday, who had sold around 100,000 copies of their releases. Although it was reported that 15,000 copies had been shipped, only 2,000 copies were sold in the album's first week