“Emotional, melodic songs that exhibit vocal strength and intelligent writing. Spacious and edgy. Ten years in the making and the band's best so far."
- Alyce Frankenhoff, Everybody's News

"'Truly mature players don’t have anything to prove,' explains Over the Rhine’s Linford Detweiler, describing why their sound is so blissfully subtle. With the release of Amateur Shortwave Radio: Ten Years of Show Business, Over the Rhine is in its prime. The group’s maturity shows: they gracefully navigate between folk, pop, and dreamy rock, always maintaining their dignified identity between the lines. Over the Rhine achieves a smooth acoustic flow on their recordings, sometimes reminiscent of Cowboy Junkies (for whom they have opened), but perhaps more swirly and introspective. Detweiler describes their recordings as oil paintings, and their live shows as black-and-white snapshots. Shows tend to be a bit more raw and energized--especially now that they often have a sextet of musical muscles to flex, recordings more refined. Both on disc and in person, however, it ís clear that Over the Rhine understands the importance of playing as a unit, letting songs breathe and inhabit their own space."
- Jaime Vazquez, Ann Arbor Current

"Amateur Shortwave Radio is made up of a mixture of concert recordings and live radio performances from the entire span of Over the Rhine’s career, plus--and here are the real gems--three new tracks recorded (live in the studio) as demos for Capitol Records. The three new cuts (Moth, Anyway, I Will Remember) all continue farther down the road begun on Good Dog Bad Dog, and are elegant in their simplicity. The sound quality of the live cuts is excellent, as is the packaging, which once again draws on the photographic work of Michael Wilson."
- Todd Brown, reviewer based in Toronto, Ontario

"...some of the best work (Over the Rhine) has done. "Moth" soars with Jack Henderson's guitar and Detweiler's keyboards, not to mention the haunting harmonies of Karin Bergquist and Terri Templeton. In addition to Moth, there's a lot on this disc that's radio-friendly, including the sad ballad "Anyway" and the quirky spoken word jam of "Jack's Valentine." The menacing cover of "Blackbird" may be more suited to Alfred Hitchcock than popular takes on the Lennon-McCartney classic, but it gives Karin a chance to stretch as a (brand new) lead singer..."
- Eric Steiner, Cosmik Debris