Thom Owens of AllMusic called the album "drastically uneven", noticing a difference in style between the two recording sessions on the album.[1]
James N. Thurman of The Christian Science Monitor writes that the album, "marks the return of an artist who continues to push the edges of country music at a time when it's hard to put most music in any sort of box."[4]
The Weekly Wire's Michael McCall reviews the album and says, "Over the course of his career, Ketchum has made some strong records, but I Saw the Light is his best album yet."[5]
Susan Campbell of The Hartford Courant concludes her review with, "We're glad Hal Ketchum is happy. And we are, selfishly, immensely glad he's out there, making music."[6]
Jack Hurst of the Chicago Tribune writes, "The songs on "I Saw the Light" reflect both the hopelessness of Ketchum's recent past and the brightness of his future."[7]
CNN's review says of I Saw the Light, "It's a comeback of sorts for Ketchum, who says he went through some dark days following the release of his last record in 1991."[8]
The Washington Post's Bill Friskics-Warren writes of the album that it's, "a far more personal record than many made by his multi-platinum-selling country counterparts."[9]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Hal Ketchum, unless otherwise noted