"Sound City: Real to Reel sounds exactly like what it is: a bunch of old rockers jamming in a studio. Often, this is quite enjoyable, as they're all excellent musicians playing through a top-notch board, but the songs do have a tendency to drift away from the point, sounding like exceedingly well-executed first drafts. It is telling that the songs that do catch hold all come from survivors of the golden age of classic rock, musicians who can knock out a well-sculpted song without too much effort, and that is as much a testament to the heyday of Sound City as the soundtrack itself".