Released almost immediately after
Beck's first album
Mellow Gold,
Stereopathetic Soul Manure is a noisier record than his debut, flaunting the experimental rock influences that
Mellow Gold only hinted at. For the most part, the record is a nonstop attack of noise and fragmented songs, recalling the mid-'80s records of
Sonic Youth and
Pussy Galore, yet the occasional pop and folk-oriented song creeps in (though none of them are as well-constructed as those on the debut or his third album,
One Foot in the Grave, which followed a few months later). ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide