Jose F. Promis of AllMusic gave "The Collection 1982–1988" two and a half out of five stars and wrote that this album collects most of Dion's essential recordings from her pre-superstar years, when she was a very young French singer, popular in Canada and France. Promis noted the heavily synthesized Europop of the 1988 Eurovision contest winner "Ne partez pas sans moi", which was the song that introduced Dion to international audiences, and is a milestone in her career. According to him, many of the songs on this set are fair, and differ from the processed teen pop of the late 1990s because of the ever-present sincerity in Dion's voice. Highlights include the elegant ballads "Tellement j'ai d'amour pour toi", "Benjamin", and "La voix du bon Dieu", the shimmering "Avec toi" and "Du soleil au cœur;" and the anthemic "C'est pour vivre". Other songs almost make the mark, such as the dramatic "La religieuse", but are marred by sometimes bizarre production, and, in this case, a truly off-putting bridge. Others are sing-song, nursery rhyme-type material, especially "Hymne à l'amitié" and the incredibly 1980s sounding "Hello Mister Sam".