"I figured there was no way I could surpass what I had done in terms of the reviewers, because they had already committed themselves to it being better than peanut butter," Ackles said in a 1974 interview in Melody Maker.

"The songs are intended to be much more easy to get into, and I felt that it was time I lightened up a bit and made the album a little more accessible," he said.

The USC Trojan String Quartet, which had previously played at Ackles' wedding, also appeared on the record.

Rolling Stone called it "quietly satisfying" in a favorable review, applauding the "restrained elegance" of the music.

Of "Aberfan" Rolling Stone noted that "...Ackles has provided an excellent programmatic arrangement, whose nuances of coloration and use of classical dissonance transcend the pop idiom into the realm of lieder.

"[11] Billboard listed it as a "Top Album Pick" with "fine vocals, sensitive tunes, and excellent piano work," singling out "I've Been Loved" and "Surf's Down" as best cuts.

"The wry, clever lyrics are delivered in the same firm baritone to the tune of the same half-rock, half-Broadway for which the California native is justifiably famous.

"The world still squelches the characters' independence and manhood; the sadness still rushes out of the pale bodies like the sparks of a failed missile; and the heroes still treat love, the past, and relations as palpable memories, with the sting of newness ready to flee.

"[2] Writer Kasper Nijsen noted that "Five & Dime may not be as tightly-knit as American Gothic, but as a many-colored patchwork of varied songs, the album has few rivals.

said "Its panoramic ambition encapsulates a surf parody...and various orchestrated vignettes that are less rock and more filmic musical....if there ever was a candidate for a boxed set, Mr. Ackles is a contender.