[2] Regarding the title of the album, Trout explained in a press release that "In this modern world which seems to be so filled with polarization, disagreements, and cruelty, I feel that it is important that we try to find SOME place where we can bond and come together in our common humanity!

"[3] Henry Yates of Classic Rock magazine explained that much of the album was written in the context of the 2010 United States elections, noting that "With an election-season America bitterly split along Democrat and Republican battle lines, Common Ground saw Trout appeal for unity using the only tools at his disposal: a whip-smart lyric sheet and the beat-to-hell Fender Strat that positively strafes the tracklisting.

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann suggested that "Trout seems to be intent on establishing himself as something more than a worthy successor to an older generation of blues originators, as well as a bevy of their better-known successors all old enough to be his older brothers", praising the quality of the songwriting as well as guitar playing on the collection.

claimed that Common Ground was "a career best" for Trout, suggesting that he "hits new heights" with the team of producer Porter and his backing band of Hutchinson, Aronoff and Cleary.

[2] At the end of 2010, Classic Rock magazine ranked Common Ground as the seventh best blues album of the year, writing that the album "is seldom revelatory, but it reminds you what you liked about [Trout] in the first place: molten Stratocaster solos, superior original material, and a palpable desire to piss on the blues gestapo's rulebook with dips into funk and hard rock".