 The musical performances and sound of the album were frequently hailed by critics . Lorraine Ali of Rolling Stone identified Rich Robinson 's guitar playing as " brilliant in spots , letting it rip with Southern @-@ rock abandon or lazy , drawling slide guitar " . Allmusic 's Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the band 's retention of the sonic detail from Amorica , and Jane Stevenson of the Toronto Sun appreciated the " soulful " backing vocals throughout . Echoing those sentiments was CMJ , which noted the " lazy slide @-@ guitar textures , harmonica moans and choirs of soulful singers " , but also stated " Chris Robinson 's gritty , cocksure vocals blaze the trail . " Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club called Robinson 's vocal performance on " HorseHead " " an inflection @-@ for @-@ inflection imitation of ... Billy Squier " ; elsewhere on the album Robinson 's voice was compared to that of Rod Stewart . Stewart himself called the album " brilliant " and said it " absolutely knocked [ him ] out " . Robinson 's lyrics were alternately praised and panned . The Guardian 's Caroline Sullivan called " Go Faster " an amalgam of the band 's interests , " including drugs ... nubile wenchhood ... scrapes ... and touring " . The Washington Post 's Harrington , however , called Robinson " convincing when he sings [ in ' Virtue and Vice ' ] , ' I feel so alive today and that 's all I want to say / I hope it stays this way , ' adding , ' If not , I 'll be okay ' " . 
