"Be the Love You Want certainly showcases Southern Avenue's growth as a band, but more than this, its 12 masterfully written songs deliver beauty, hope, and grace with a power than can only come from vulnerability and rigorous emotional honesty".
"Be The Love You Want may not reinvent the wheel in terms of soul-heavy rhythm and blues, but it is an improvement on the band's past efforts, and contains a lot of good songs. The musicianship is excellent as always and the full-bodied sounds coupled with the members' genuine and whole-hearted approach will easily get listeners up and moving, singing along, or both".
"Produced by Multi-Grammy winner Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Deer Tick, Susan Tedeschi, Jackie Greene), Southern Avenue really found the groove on this one. There's a little gospel, blues, rock, jam - all combined to make a great album".