Although the album was a success at establishing the Doors in the pop market, it was rejected by the group's original audience and the underground scene, particularly for the album's use of horns and strings. The underground press was less than complimentary, with David Walkey, writing in New York's "East Village Other", stating the album was "badly messed up by the syrupy arrangement of Paul Rothchild and could be renamed, 'The Rothchild Strings Play the Doors'". Another scathing review by Miller Francis Jr. of "The Great Speckled Bird" expressed disdain for the Doors' attempt at art rock, feeling "The Soft Parade" "comes on so pretentious, like something written rather than something sung". Rob Cline of "Northwest Passage" questioned why a band like the Doors needed to record with violins and trombones when the group was "best when getting it on straight and hard as witness to their first two albums". In "Rolling Stone", Alec Dubro found much of the songs to be "pale shadows of their earlier works". Reviewing for "The Village Voice" in January 1970, Robert Christgau wrote: "No one even thinks about the Doors any more—such is fame—but this is an acceptable record, with predictable pretensions and two or three first-rate songs ('Touch Me,' 'Wild Child'). Nothing to get excited about, either way."