The album's single, "Tough It Out", peaked at No. 16 on the BillboardMainstream Rock chart.[4] The album was promoted in part through a short film, "Horror Hayride", which was later included as part of Wilder's Corn Flicks video.[5]
Trouser Press wrote that "Webb swaggers gloriously... The diverse menu includes the rousing boogie of 'Tough It Out', a heart-rending plea for forgiveness in the form of 'Everyday (I Kick Myself)', a spiffy display by [guitarist Donny 'The Twangler' Roberts] on the instrumental 'Sputnik' and, against all odds, an exciting version of the warhorse 'Baby Please Don’t Go'."[6]The Washington Post thought that the album's two covers were better than any of the Wilder originals, but conceded that "the quartet plays with more focused power than ever before."[15]
The Morning Call deemed the album "a heady mojo, full of Southern-fried rockin', stomping R&B; and Memphis twang."[16]Stereo Review called it "Hillbilly Gothic at its deadpan best."[17] The Chicago Tribune declared that "at its worst, this album sounds like Jethro Tull does roots rock."[11]
AllMusic wrote that Wilder and his band "start from a basic blues style fused to rootsy rock, then shish-kebab the result with a skewered view of mundane existence."[10]The Rolling Stone Album Guide praised the "rocking, witty and often moving sagas."[13]
