 Rob Hughes of "Louder Sound", meanwhile, has referred to "Wow" as "a disjointed affair," but "hardly a disaster," highlighting "Bitter Wind," the "creepily-hypnotic Rose Colored Eyes," the "funked-up Murder In My Heart For The Judge" and "Spence’s clap of dirty thunder, Motorcycle Irene" as "classic Grape".A retrospective review of "Wow" by Mark Deming of "AllMusic" is mostly positive, arguing that it is "a far more ambitious album" than the band’s debut, that it "has plenty of strengths despite the excess gingerbread" and that while it lacks the "rev-it-up spirit" of the debut, the "guitar work is just as impressive and richly layered, and the group's harmonies and songwriting chops are still in solid shape.