 At the end of 1972, "Manfred Mann's Earth Band" was named the third best album of the year in Robert Christgau's column for "Newsday".The music critic applauded Mann's innovative synthesizer parts and both the "original and borrowed" lyrics, while calling the album "one of those future-rock records that will probably spawn no heirs, even by the group that made it".Reviewers in the UK were less receptive to the album, according to Robert Corich in his notes for its reissue.