 In 1970, Sour Milk Sea, one of singer Freddie Mercury's pre-Queen bands, was named after the track.Writing for "Rolling Stone" in 1971, Ben Edmonds described the song as "excellent" but suggested that Lomax "seemed to get lost among the superstars" accompanying him.Three years later, Andy Childs of "ZigZag" admired it as "a classic single – a really dynamic rock song with Lomax in great voice".