Critical response
The album met with generally positive reviews, based on an aggregate score of 69/100 from Metacritic, who listed 0 out of the 13 available reviews as "negative". IGN gave the album an overall score of 9.5 (out of 10) and states "mixing Asian melodies with western electronic sounds is certainly nothing new, but the Monkey project is a broad collaboration with some of the most talented performers in Chinese opera, and the resulting mélange is appreciably more authentic than your average world beat record" and adds "the score ranks as the best rock opera ever written and deserves a place among the most audacious modern operas, regardless of genre. This is a brilliant and challenging composition that deserves to be celebrated." The Times writer Robert Sandall awarded the album 5 stars out of 5, claiming that, "Albarn has really gone the distance in trying to master the indigenous pentatonic scale without abandoning the playful spirit he brought to Gorillaz." while viewing the album as sitting "roughly equidistant between East/West fusion pop and a contemporary classical work such as Adams's Nixon in China." URB echoed these thoughts, stating that "Monkey: Journey to the West is a testament to Albarn's versatility as a musician and his melodies' ability to avoid becoming losing their power in translation." The Guardian gave the album four stars and insisted that "You can go a fair distance without encountering a tune, which is less of a problem when there is something to look at. But even during the occasional longueurs, it's hard not to marvel at the ambition on display here, hard to think of anyone who would dare attempt something similar, and impossible to imagine someone else pulling it off with more aplomb."
However, Keith McDonnell of MusicOMH, gave a rather mixed review of the record itself, rewarding it 2 stars out of 5 and viewing the release as "disappointing on every conceivable level" and states the album pales in comparison to the stage musical itself "I'd totally succumbed to its charm in the theatre, but I'd advise anyone approaching this CD to do so with caution, especially if you've not seen it in its glory in the theatre where it belongs." Online music and film webzine Tiny Mix Tapes questioned the album's appeal, commenting that, "Albarn's thirst for musical adventure is commendable, but unless you're obsessed with his every move or have been dreaming of the day a former Brit pop king fuses the sensibilities of Eastern opera and Western pop, Monkey just doesn't warrant your full attention." PopMatters writer Marc A. Price was slightly more positive, rewarding a 5/10 rating, while writing that "Other pop fans are more likely to see through the emperor's new clothes and call this for what it is: mostly weak but with a couple of monkey magic moments."
Despite Albarn's intentions for the album's music to "stand alone", Pitchfork Media pointed out that, "The project still has the feel of an accompanying piece, with titles referencing the dramatization of the Chinese story and plenty of incidental music," although it was also noted that the album "works on a satisfying level as an experimental work or as art-pop."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it 3½ out of 5 stars and wrote that, "Journey to the West is perhaps best experienced on-stage, as it was meant to be heard in tandem with Chen Shi-Zheng and Hewlett's visuals, but heard as its own work, it's hard not to admire, if not exactly embrace, Albarn's achievement here, as his work is not only ambitious, it is serious and understated, the work of a true composer."