[1] Andrew McGregor writing for the BBC praised the uniqueness of The Electric Soft Parade sound, but found fault with the album's lyrical content; "there's surely no need to adopt their 'stating-the-bleeding-obvious in a Moon/June/Balloon stylee' approach.

Long and meandering (though it does manage to escape from the sound swamp near the end), it's the kind of song that only a mother or devout PR man could love.

"[3] Despite her reservations about the album as a whole, she found merit in the LP's second single, "Lose Yr Frown", declaring it "the best thing on offer, with a catchy chorus that trips off Alex's guitar with an upbeat ease.

Opening track "Things I've Done Before" may not let much lyrical light in (...), but it's equipped with a killer riff and a sense of momentum that is lost later in the album (...) while "Bruxellisation" is a rich, heartbreaking ballad in the Doves mould.

Music, described The American Adventure as "a roller coaster ride well worth taking" that had "clearly been lovingly constructed and largely well executed" with "a strong sense of focus and quality control".