Is This What You Want? superstar backing musicians, saying, "they're always talkin' about who's on the album and not the album itself." Writing in "ZigZag" in July 1974, Andy Childs advised the magazine's readers: "it's worth its weight in gold, so if it's absent from your collection, add it to your shopping list of second-hand records." Greenfield and Childs both recognised Harrison's "Sour Milk Sea" as a highlight of the album. Richie Unterberger of AllMusic offers a less favourable opinion of "Is This What You Want?", describing Lomax as "a passable but unarresting singer and songwriter". Unterberger identifies the best moments as the "Beatlesque" songs
Is This What You Want? where the Beatles were attending Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation course in the early months of 1968. Harrison was the last Beatle to return from India, on 21 April, after which he and Lomax ran through material intended for the album at Harrison's Esher bungalow, Kinfauns. Lomax recalls first hearing the song "Sour Milk Sea" there, played by Harrison on acoustic guitar with Lomax accompanying on bass. Among Lomax's own material was the Motown-inspired "Speak to Me", and "Is This What You Want?", a song that has been described as both bearing a close resemblance to the Beatles' "I Am