The Morning Call wrote that "the Blazers' sound spotlights the dual guitar attack of [Ruben] Guaderrama and [Manuel] Gonzales and the tight and versatile rhythm section of bassist Lee Stuart and drummer Ruben Gonzalez, who can swing mightily on a danceable rocker such as 'What's Wrong With You' or lock into the traditional cumbia rhythm of 'Cero 39' with equal ease."[15] The Orlando Sentinel thought that the guitarists "sound like Keith Richards and Ron Wood on 'Before I Get Too Old'."[13] The San Diego Union-Tribune deemed the album "foot-stomping music that makes people dance the jitterbug and the sideways pony, as well as cumbia."[14]
Hispanic concluded that "the band still plays some of the most danceable music with a rockin' edge and cumbias that rule."[16] The Los Angeles Times determined that "the quartet doesn't aim for the sociopolitical undercurrents or carefully groomed textures of Los Lobos, but the Blazers' roots rock—which is more in the raw tradition of the Blasters and, at times, Keith Richards—comes across with such assurance and authority that the album is a fine companion, whether you accept its invitation to pull up a bar stool or step onto the dance floor."[11]
AllMusic wrote that "few bands have ever combined gutsy blues-rock and sheer joyous energy the way the Blazers did on East Side Soul, much less created such a successful and interesting fusion of musical cultures."[10] The Houston Press praised "Cumbia del Sol", calling it "criminally underheard."[17]
