directions explored by jungle music in 1995–96, finding this exemplary of Shut Up & Dance's large legacy and citing it among several releases on the label which "anticipated crucial stands of the jungalistic sound system," alongside Rum and Black's "Bogeyman" and the singles of The Ragga Twins. Eshun described Now Is Early as "a forgotten classic" and included "Waking Up Remix" on the compilation album Routes from the Jungle (1995), which features hardcore techno and jungle music "from the roots to the future". Vibe wrote that Now Is Early "proved too odd for mainstream appeal" on its release in 1992, but added that "given the eventual success of similarly idiosyncratic vocalists like Björk", the album was perhaps "simply ahead of its time." According to Muggs, Now Is Early joined Carlton's The Call Is Strong (1990) in establishing a blueprint for albums by singer-songwriters that harnessed "the creativity of the rave", resulting in an individual identity in rave's "very British, very grass-roots format." In an article for Fact, he praised both albums for their "individualist urban rave blues". In The Rough Guide to Rock, Al Spicer called Now Is Early Nicolette's "lost treasure of an album" and "a collection of torch songs to tear your heart out," while John Bush of AllMusic reflected that the album showed Nicolette "to be an uncommonly mature talent who wrote her own songs and featured a warm, crystalline voice." Michael Lawson of The Guardian describes Now Is Early as a "majestic, jazz-infused" album that exemplifies PJ and Smiley's continued creation of "innovative music" after their work with the Ragga Twins. In 1995, OOR ranked the album at number 59 in their list of "The 100 Best Albums of 1991–1995", while in 1999, Spex ranked the album at number 57 in their list of "The 100 Albums of the Century". In 2000, German magazine Zundfunk ranked the album at number 18 in their list of "The Best Albums of the 90s". In 2006, Exclaim! listed the album on their list of "100 Records That Rocked 100 Issues of Exclaim!". The magazine called it exuberant, "quintessentially British" album, highlighting Nicolette's flowing, entrancing voice, and concluding that the album is "[a] must have for drum & bass fans." In 2013, Groove ranked the album at number 40 in their list of "The 100 Best Electronic Albums". In 2006, author Christophe Brault named it the fifteenth best album of