Civilization (Tony Williams album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
All Music Guide to Jazz	[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[13]
MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide	[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[15]
The Windsor Star	A−[16]

The Washington Post noted that "there isn't a tune ... that doesn't call attention to Williams's masterful touch, whether it's the way he prods the horns through the briskly descending chord changes on 'The Stump' or uses his cymbals to create glinting textures whenever the mood turns pensive."^[17] The St. Petersburg Times said that the album "swings hard; the compositions are dark-hued and sophisticated, the improvisation intense."^[18] The Windsor Star stated, "The group moves at a punchy pace, unleashes its message directly, focused, no loose ends, swinging though at times it just misses breaking loose."^[16]

The News and Observer opined that the album was Williams's best "straight-ahead jazz" release since the 1960s.^[19] The Star-Ledger called the songs "so good they herald the drummer as a premier composer of hard bop and modal-derived themes."^[20] In May 1987, The Commercial Appeal declared that Civilization was so far the best jazz album of 1987.^[21] The Lincoln Journal Star, The Buffalo News, and LA Weekly selected it as one of the best jazz albums of the year.^[22][23][10]