Conversely, Scott Schinder wrote in "Icons of Rock" (2006) that "Surf's Up" "lacked the solid group dynamic that had elevated "Sunflower"" despite two "impressive songwriting contributions from Carl". James E. Perone, writing in "The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time" (2015), opined that "the album's lyrical themes are so wide ranging that the social commentary tended to get somewhat lost, and the year 1971 was late enough in the counterculture era that 'Student Demonstration Time' and 'A Day in the Life of a Tree' seem like a case of too little, too late." Stebbins opined that the album suffered from a lack of Dennis songs and was not as strong as "Sunflower" in its totality. "Record Collector"s Jamie Atkins said that the lack of Dennis songs was balanced by the strong offerings from Carl, although Rieley's "awkward wordplay ... was rather less clever than he had perhaps intended. Happily, they did not detract from the quality of the songs:"