 Henderson also argued that the music of "Murdering Oscar" discusses variations on the story of "the lonely, forgotten everyman", which he called one of Hood's favorite themes.Jesse Cataldo, writing in "Slant", criticized the album for being far inferior to Hood's work with the Truckers, saying that on "Murdering Oscar", "Hood falters, resulting in an uninterrupted stream of watery drivel that drifts by much too slowly.