Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Blender | |
| Robert Christgau | A |
| Rolling Stone | unfavorable |
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described the album as focused and consistent with Eric Clapton's aesthetic. For the Blender magazine review of the album's 2004 Deluxe Edition, Jon Pareles called the Eric Clapton of the Cream-era superior to the Clapton of the 461 Ocean Boulevard-era, due to what Pareles describes as strained singing on 461 Ocean Boulevard. Pareles also described Clapton's remake of "I Shot the Sheriff" as a copy with no original arrangement; he praised the song "Let It Grow", but criticized it for sounding too much like "Stairway to Heaven". Robert Christgau called the album honest and groundbreaking for Clapton, but praised the cover songs as the best part of the album. Ken Emerson at Rolling Stone called Clapton's guitar work unnotable, and criticizes Clapton for hiding behind his other musicians, none of whom—with the exception of Jamie Oldaker— were even that good. Emerson also questions Clapton's decision to play a dobro on the album, but calls "Let It Grow" a highlight; Emerson also considers Clapton's re-arrangement of "Motherless Children" to be too upbeat for a somber song. Despite this, Rolling Stone ranked the album at 409 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of all time list.
Read more about this topic: 461 Ocean Boulevard
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