"[6] Author Bob Gluck referred to the opening of Vietnam as an example of what he calls "parallel play," a technique at which the group excelled, and "a performance mode in which all three musicians pursued their own direction while contributing to a shared overall construction.

"[7] He noted that, due to the trio's cooperative orientation, "The Revolutionary Ensemble had no leader looking in from outside the hub of activity, no Miles Davis to limit musical forays from continuing until their logical end, however anarchic the journey.

The cooking sound of drums, bass, and the violin of Leroy Jenkins soaring above was sometimes what certain parts of the audience were always waiting for, but, like many of the AACM groups, this trio also loved to explore the worlds of silence and space".

[9] The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3 stars, and wrote: "the music is harsh and demanding, but Jenkins's interest in developing improvisations from small cells or motives is immediately evident, as is Sirone's ability to translate such ideas into a lower register and slower delivery, and Cooper's willingness to add an abstract orchestral quality to the music as well as line and metre.

"[10] On All About Jazz, Raoul D'Gama Rose noted "It is hard to imagine why it was not first greeted with more fanfare upon its original release, but perhaps the world of art was much crueler towards modern musicians.

"[12] In a third All About Jazz article, Clifford Allen wrote: "An auspicious debut, Vietnam is an extremely intense slab of music and unlike anything else in the ESP catalogue.

But when drummer Jerome Cooper lit the fire, Sirone equalled him in force, hitting the bow to the strings in a tangible, grab-you-by-the-shirt kind of way.

Cooper's drumming is more accent than engine, occasionally intruding on the violin-bass dialogue but mostly letting the other two men do their thing and interjecting a snare roll or quick flicker of the cymbals from the background.

"[16] Writer Graham Reid included the recording in his list of "10 Rare Free Jazz Albums I'm Proud to Own," and remarked: "Just as Jimi Hendrix's treatment of The Star Spangled Banner conjured up horrifying images of Vietnam under the pall of napalm and bombs dropped from invisible planes above, at times this short version of the title piece evokes something just as dark... but more in the nature of a dislocating fire-fight by night experienced in a foxhole or under an oppressive jungle canopy.