 Although it received good reviews upon release, "Song Cycle" sold slowly, and took at least three years to pay for the original studio sessions.AllMusic's Jason Ankeny has described the album as

In response to the poor sales of the record after its release, Warner Bros. Records ran full page newspaper and magazine advertisements written by staff publicist Stan Cornyn that said they "lost $35,509 on 'the album of the year' (dammit).