Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that the song "demonstrates yet another formidable step forward in the career path of this fly girl gone sophisticate."

He noted that Blige is "in good hands with this dreamy, '70s-based jazz/funk smash", and that she is "sounding as sharp as cut glass, with a smattering of scatting and just enough grit to define the artist's signature edge in this classy number."

Those searching synths could've been stripped straight from Stevie Wonder's 'Fulfillingness' First Finale' album, that melody embodies not a little of Al Green's sexy, laid-back magic.

And Mary J's vocals eschew the modern, octave-skipping histrionics of Mariah et al, in favour of a more reserved delivery, building up to an angelic crescendo on the run-out groove that may be the most perfect 30 seconds or so of music recorded this year."

"'All That I Can Say' is also as sublime a listening experience as you're likely to hear all year, written, produced, performed to perfection, and guaranteed to coat you head to toe in goose pimples in under four minutes flat.

Suddenly the alarm clock interrupts after it has just turned 9.00 a.m.. Blige wakes up and sits up in bed with a puzzled face, as she looks out at the clouds outside the window as the video ends.

In 2000, French pianist Alex Bugnon covered the song from his album As Promised, which featured a guest vocals from Blige's then-current labelmate Christopher Williams.