unfinished, forced, and rushed quality. White wrote in his Crawdaddy review that the album was a disappointment; although it "does boast several bright moments – but no brilliant ones." Less favorably, a reviewer for The Village Voice described the album as "the kind of music one might expect to find at a rock star's funeral." According to Carlin, most other reviewers "gave 15 Big Ones gentle treatment", such as in Newsweek, which described the album as "fascinating ... [with] a curiously unshakable unity." Similarly, Jim Miller of Rolling Stone decreed that it was "the most idiosyncratic — and flaky — record I have heard in some time, and it fascinates me." Among retrospective reviews, AllMusic's John Bush felt that most of the covers were "simply too well known to be reworked effectively, by anyone", but favorably compared "It's OK" and "Had to Phone Ya" to "Brian's odd pop songs on late-'60s albums like Friends and 20/20." Robert Christgau bemoaned the selection of covers and their lack of a "playful, goofy vocal intensity". Blenders Douglas Wolk wrote that the album is "[o]verwhelmed by clunky covers and bored performances". Pitchforks Eric Kempfe described the album as "muddy and confused" and highlighted "Had to Phone Ya" and "Back Home" as the best originals. Kempfe added that, with the exception of "Just Once in My Life", the covers "are notable only for the morbid fascination they hold ... Brian's once-sweet falsetto is reduced to a hoarse crackle; as a result, Mike Love's painful nasal whine is the dominant voice on the record." In his book Icons of Rock, Scott Schinder called 15 Big Ones "largely a letdown, largely of lackluster remakes of rock and roll oldies, along with a handful of lightweight but charming new songs by Brian. Rock critic Nick Kent called it "utterly uninspired and weary-sounding ... clearly intended only as therapy for Wilson's long dormant production talents." Musician Dennis Diken of the Smithereens, who wrote the liner notes to the album's 2000 reissue, acknowledged such criticisms and opined, "If you can accept all these points and put it behind you that this isn't Smile, Pet Sounds or even Wild Honey, give 15 Big Ones a spin and dig on what is a very cool and fun Beach Boys album." Aftermath and legacy At the time, Brian described the album as "nothing too deep" and promised that his next effort would be