Several live or alternate studio recordings were previously unreleased. Anthony DeCurtis contributed the liner notes to the album, and The Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood painted the album's cover. Mitchell Kanner designed the package and, along with Michael Bays, art directed the package.Crossroads was mastered by Greg Calbi and compiled by Bill Levenson. The four-disc box set sold more than four million copies worldwide and was presented with six awards, including two Grammy Awards awarded in 1989. With high commercial success and positive critical response, this is Clapton's most-purchased box set to date.

The critics for Billboard magazine noted mostly the production work, besides the compilations track listing stating: "Compiler Levenson has unearthed some superb rarities for the set, and Anthony DeCurtis contributes intelligent annotation. Classy package and bounty of unheard material will attract Slowhand's legion of fans".Rolling Stone journalist David Fricke really liked the boxed set and awarded the release an extremely rare five-star rating in April 1988. In his review for the American music website AllMusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine presented the album with five out of five possible stars, rating the release as an AllMusic top album and notes:

[…] Clapton's set was a bona fide blockbuster. And it's easy to see why. Crossroads manages to sum up Clapton's career succinctly and thoroughly, touching upon all of his hits and adding a bevy of first-rate unreleased material (most notably selections from the scrapped second Derek and the Dominos album). Although not all of his greatest performances are included on the set – none of his work as a session musician or guest artist is included, for instance – every truly essential item he recorded is present on these four discs. No other Clapton album accurately explains why the guitarist was so influential, or demonstrates exactly what he accomplished.

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