The title is a play on the Latin motto of the United States of America, E pluribus unum ("Out of many, one") and translates as "Out of many, Funk".

In a contemporary review, Metal Mike Saunders of Rolling Stone wrote that most of E Pluribus Funk "pretty much sputters and wheezes, the whole first side sounding like nothing so much as one long nondescript song that never catches fire."

"[6] David Fricke wrote a new review for Rolling Stone for the record's 2002 reissue, as part of the band's remastered catalogue.

"[3] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Nick Catucci favourably wrote that "Farner wails like a cross between Axl Rose and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant, Schacher sprints through fuzz-toned walking basslines, and Brewer guarantees the 'funk' promised in the disc's title.

"[7] William Ruhlmann of AllMusic said the album's rushed production affected the music and wrote that Grand Funk "were still primarily a live band, able to achieve intensity, but with little sense of the varying dynamics and musical textures that might make a studio album interesting to listen to beyond being a souvenir of their live show.