The United States of America (album) - Reception

Reception

The album was originally released to minimal press. A review from Rolling Stone was fairly mixed, it was praised for its style by stating "The tunes are infectious, the harmonies adventurous yet eminently satisfying. And the lyrics (which Columbia has wisely printed on the jacket) are the best thing of all." But, "this first album falls short of being really satisfying. Mainly I think it's because the strictly technical abilities of the U.S.A. are not quite on a level with their ideas. The voices are flat and uninteresting, showing little technical or interpretive power. The instruments perform their assigned tasks adroitly, but all too mechanically".

Modern reception of the album has been very positive. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic gave the album a rating of four and half stars out of five, and referred to the album as "one of the most exciting and experimental psychedelic albums of the late 1960s" and compared some of the bands more hard-edged material to early Pink Floyd and The Velvet Underground. Music webzine Pitchfork Media gave the album a high rating of 8.9 out of 10, and claimed that "USA's self-titled album still stands above the work of most of their Monterey-era, psych-rock peers". Dusted Magazine also praised the album on its 2004 re-issue, stating "The most ambitious, idiosyncratic debut album of 2004 is 36 years old.". Negative points of the album were mentioned by Allmusic noting that "Occasionally things get too excessive and self-conscious, and the attempts at comedy are a bit flat, but otherwise this is a near classic." The Dusted Magazine review also noted this stating "The less successful tracks on the album are the ones that ditch subtlety for extremely strident attacks on bourgeois America." Pitchfork Media's only problem with the album was some of the dated electronic effects, suggesting that "some of the album's synthesizer works haven't aged well and are stigmatized by the "B-flick sound effects" tag that magnifies the wrinkles on so many electro-acoustic pieces from the analog years." It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.