Hiring longtime punk rock producer Neill King to produce and engineer All Set, the band recorded in Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, a studio where then-huge pop punk bands like Green Day, to whom Buzzcocks had been a big influence, had recently recorded music engineered by King.

Barker's drumming style was said to show more flair, whilst the record is said to "reflect their maturity and approach to relationships that the early singles just couldn't."

The group's rhythm section, Steve Garvey (bass) and John Maher (drums) soon left the band, both of whom were content to continue their other lines of work,[3] and after a brief stint with former Smiths drummer Mike Joyce, the group's standardised line up became vocalists and guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, bassist Tony Barber, and drummer Phil Barker.

Although it was a critical success, it was not a commercial one despite the huge surge in popularity for pop punk at the same time,[5] but regardless, the band toured relentlessly worldwide following its release.

King's acclaimed producing and engineering work on the album lead to one critic noting that "things haven't sounded this crisp and clear for the band even since the late '70s.

"[3] The inclusion of a Hammond organ provides "a nice extra touch here and there," such as on the lower-key groove of "Hold Me Close," one of Shelley's tenderer love songs, while Diggle "pulls off a rock-of-the-gods epic start" for "Playing for Time.

"[3] The concluding two songs have both been noted for having "something to them in particular"−"Pariah" has a quirky rhythm crunch to it à la "Sixteen," while Diggle's "Back With You" starts off with an acoustic guitar and turns into a string-synth-swept declaration of love.

[3] Nonetheless, besides the unusual touches, Raggett said its "generally effective business as usual"[3] Ali Sinclair of Consumable Online said that although listeners might assume the band to have mellowed out, they "still sound like the Beatles overdosed on caffeine - or more.

"[8] On All Set, the band's drummer Phil Barker was noted as "in particular showing more individual flashes and flair than before," whilst Shelley and Diggle "throw in a couple of almost mainstream guitar solos along the way, but otherwise are as dedicated as always to the virtues of high-volume, brisk poppiness.

"[9] By the time the album was released, the band's line-up had been their longest lasting so far,[10] and the group had now been around longer since their 1989 reunion than they had when they originally existed in the late 1970s.

"[14] As such, it left the band without a record label and, as a journalist from Ear Candy Mag recalled it, the album suffered for "a lack of promotion"[14] and it was not a commercial success, not appearing in any country's national chart, although steady sales from the supporting tour upheld its popularity.

"[6] After Ear Candy Mag pointed out that popular acts such as Oasis, Green Day and Rancid mixed punk rock and pop as was the Buzzcocks style, Diggle said that he thought the revival was "exciting, it brings guitar back.

Ned Raggett of Allmusic rated the album four stars out of five and said "the quartet here sounds like the Buzzcocks, if again essentially the pop-friendlier side of the band.

"[3] Robert Christgau gave the album a three-star honorable mention, signifying "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure.

"[8] Trouser Press said All Set was another album of "memorable originals with familiar virtues," singling out the songs "Totally from the Heart," "Hold Me Close," "Point of No Return" and "Back with You" as highlights.

"[14] Ronnie Dannelley of Pop Culture Press called it "a solid follow-up to Trade Test" and said it showed the band "avoiding the sophomore slump.

"[7] Whilst interviewing Diggle, a reviewer for San Francisco Bay Area Concerts said he had been listening to All Set and noted "it feels just as vital to me as Singles Going Steady" [the band's most acclaimed album].

"[23] In his 2012 book The Anarchy Tour, music writer Mick O'Shea said that alongside the band's other post-reunion albums, All Set "served to affirm that Buzzcocks could still appeal to a global audience while still remaining true to their original ideals.

"[16] It has been said that All Set "reaffirmed Buzzcocks' position as a band deeply loved and revered by a global audience, simultaneously true to their original ideals and open to new ideas.