Working with British new wave producer Hugh Jones, the album featured a range of musical instruments including mandolin, violin, synthesizer, organ, dobro, and pedal steel guitar.

In a 1984 interview published in Billboard, PolyGram Music Video vice president Len Epand stated that the company was "shifting its gears" and beginning to "emphasize marketing over production.

"[2] Later in the interview, Epand cited Scenic Views as an example of an album that "reaped huge benefits from a seemingly small-scale video release... which produced a Grammy nomination for an almost unknown group".

[4] In Rolling Stone, Kurt Loder wrote that "Scenic Views isn't a bad record, but given Rubber Rodeo's multifaceted resources, the next album ought to be a lot better."

J. D. Considine wrote that "Rubber Rodeo may play mutant, post-wave C&W-pop, but it's still rooted in the country's plainspoken bedrock of yearning and heartache.