Chris Nelson, of Addicted to Noise, ranked The Third Rail as his fourth favorite album of 1996.[6] Writing in the Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ grade, writing that on it, the band's frontman Marcellus Hall "...represents Manhattan art-slackerdom like the proud denizen he is."[5]AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, writing that "...much of the album rocks harder and better than any of their previous records."[1]