Queens of Noise - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

The album has garnered generally positive reviews. In his book The Rough Guide to Rock, Peter Buckley praised Queens of Noise as "a pop-metal pinnacle". In his review for Allmusic, Alex Henderson referred to it as The Runaways' "outstanding sophomore effort", describing it as "hard rock that pulls no punches either musically or lyrically". In all, Queens of Noise earned an editor rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars from Allmusic, equaling the score earned by The Runaways' eponymous debut album. The album's iTunes review described it as "more consistently fierce than the band’s debut" and noted a growing punk rock influence as well as "positively feral" guitar instrumentation. Andy Doherty called Queens of Noise "a real development" from The Runaways, deeming that it is "definitely worth a listen . . . in fact, quite a few listens". Reviewing the album for Sounds, Barry Myers noted its "improved studio sound" and recommended it to his readers. Robert Christgau was less generous in his review, however, slighting The Runaways as "bimbos" and disparagingly comparing the title track to Evita in the course of rating the album as a C.