▁announced . ▁ ▁Crit ical ▁reception ▁ ▁H ands ▁received ▁generally ▁positive ▁reviews ▁from ▁music ▁critics . ▁At ▁Met ac rit ic , ▁which ▁assign s ▁a ▁normal ised ▁rating ▁out ▁of ▁ 1 0 0 ▁to ▁reviews ▁from ▁main stream ▁publications , ▁the ▁album ▁received ▁an ▁average ▁score ▁of ▁ 6 8 , ▁based ▁on ▁ 2 0 ▁reviews . ▁Michael ▁C rag g ▁of ▁music OM H ▁called ▁it ▁" a ▁well - craft ed , ▁gl orious ▁pop ▁record ". ▁K . ▁Ross ▁Hoff man ▁of ▁All Music ▁viewed ▁the ▁album ▁as ▁" a ▁solid ▁batch ▁with ▁several ▁stand outs ▁[...] ▁but ▁no ▁space - fill ing ▁d ud s ▁or ▁truly ▁weak ▁links ". ▁David ▁R ens h aw ▁of ▁G ig wise ▁described ▁H ands ▁as ▁" a ▁big ▁pop ▁album " ▁that ▁" rival [ s ] ▁Lady ▁Ga G a , ▁Girls ▁Al oud ▁or ▁L ily ▁Allen ." ▁Ben ▁Thompson ▁of ▁The ▁Ob server ▁compl iment ed ▁the ▁album ' s ▁" d iverse " ▁production ▁and ▁called ▁the ▁song ▁" Sym met ry ", ▁a ▁du et ▁with ▁Philip ▁O ake y , ▁a ▁" jo y ous ▁cross - gener ational ▁head - to - head ". ▁Mel issa ▁Ma er z ▁of ▁Entertainment ▁Week ly ▁commented ▁that ▁on ▁H ands , ▁Little ▁Bo ots ▁is ▁" gre at ▁at ▁taking ▁super star ▁gl amour ▁to ▁the ▁streets ", ▁dub bing ▁the ▁album ▁" m eg ac lub ▁gold ▁for ▁the ▁broke -