The Kids Are the Same

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
The Clarion-Ledger	[11]
Duluth News Tribune	9/10[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[13]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[6]
Omaha World-Herald	[14]
The Windsor Star	B+[15]

The Globe and Mail said that "the band dabbles in so many different styles that no one of them could be called its own ... the playing and singing are hardly exceptional".^[16] The Blade-Tribune called the album "a masterpiece of basic rock".^[17] The Duluth News Tribune concluded that Collins "is one of those rare rockers who understands the form intuitively—these songs come from a place where rock exists in its natural state."^[12] The Clarion-Ledger noted that the band "is superb, especially lead guitarist Larry Whitman, who fits in rather than overwhelms."^[11] The Windsor Star labeled the songs "ravers all and sock-hoppable."^[15] The Intelligencer Journal listed The Kids Are the Same among the 20 best albums of 1982; the Fort Worth Star-Telegram placed it at No. 10.^[18][19]

In 2012, The Mercury stated that the band's first two albums "are still hailed as templates for how power-pop records should be made."^[20] AllMusic said that the title track "is a classic teen anthem waiting to be rediscovered."^[10] Trouser Press opined that "the band shows a high degree of musical volatility" on the first half of the album.^[21]