Brian Olewnick of Allmusic gave the album two out of five stars, saying that parts of the record "come across as affected and bland" and sometimes "a bit overwrought." However, he gave good mention to the track "The Beat of the Mesozoic, part I", concluding that at their best the band is "able to generate an infectious power and percussive drive that makes one wish for further explorations along that particular road."[2]
Never being individually issued on Compact Disc, only some of Beat of the Mesozoic had been included on compilations such as Sonic Geology and The Fossil Record. Finally, the entire release was issued by Cuneiform Records on Dawn of the Cycads, a two-disc anthology including most of the band's early work.[3]
