The American in Me (Steve Forbert album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[14]
Calgary Herald	B[15]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[16]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[17]
Orlando Sentinel	[18]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[19]

The Chicago Tribune wrote that "Forbert's youthful rasp has barely changed with time and his ability to pen thoughtful tunes is still in place."^[20] The Baltimore Sun stated: "Growing old gracefully has never been a particularly rock and roll thing to do, but few pop musicians have ever expressed the regret and disillusionment of advancing adulthood as eloquently as Steve Forbert does on The American in Me."^[21] The Washington Post determined that "the latest batch of songs often amounts to little more than overly familiar characters and vignettes: the Southern eccentric, the put-upon blue-collar worker, the blight of pollution."^[22]

Rolling Stone concluded that the album's "accounts of hard-won experience too often seem pedantic or self-pitying, and Forbert's relentless earnestness wears thin after a while."^[23] The Orlando Sentinel opined that, "when it comes to documenting the state of the average guy, Forbert has emerged as a more eloquent spokesman than Bruce Springsteen or John Mellencamp."^[18] The Calgary Herald deemed Forbert "not a brilliant songwriter, but always heartfelt."^[15]