The song has received praise from several music critics; among these, James Hunter of Rolling Stone described it as a "spookily proto-disco" performance by "a rock orchestra recorded with sensitivity and teeth and faraway mikes".

[27][28] Written in a period shortly before "karma", "mantra", "guru" and "māyā" all became key words in his vocabulary,[29] Harrison shows an acknowledgment of possible confusion on the part of his listeners, and a degree of humour,[17] with the questions that appear at the end of the verses, "Are you still with me?"

[39] On 26 May 1970, a month after the Beatles' official break-up, it was one of at least fifteen songs performed by Harrison for producer Phil Spector's benefit at Abbey Road Studios in London,[40] with a view to narrowing down the material under consideration for All Things Must Pass.

[22] A widely bootlegged version known as "Art of Dying (Take 9)", comprising a band performance dominated by acoustic rhythm guitars and piano[45] with Ringo Starr on drums, sees the song somewhere between the solo run-through and the All Things Must Pass arrangement.

[22][nb 3] In a chapter discussing All Things Must Pass in his 2010 autobiography, American musician Bobby Whitlock writes of recording the song: "It was awesome when we were doing 'The Art of Dying,' Eric [Clapton] on that wah-wah and it was all cooking, Derek and the Dominos with George Harrison.

[23] Testifying to the ferocity of the performance, Phil Collins later recalled that his hands were so badly blistered during the run-throughs of the song, he was unable to play his congas with any force once they came to record the track.

George was making spiritually awake music – we all heard and felt it ...[61] Apple Records released All Things Must Pass on 27 November 1970,[62] with "Art of Dying" sequenced as the second track on side four, in the triple album's original, LP format.

[63] While describing the positive response to the album, author Robert Rodriguez includes the song as an illustration of how Harrison's talent had been "hidden in plain sight" behind Lennon and McCartney during the Beatles' career.

[64] Rodriguez writes: "That the Quiet Beatle was capable of such range – from the joyful 'What Is Life' to the meditative 'Isn't It a Pity' to the steamrolling 'Art of Dying' to the playful 'I Dig Love' – was revelatory.

[71] In December 1972, Andrew Davies of Record Mirror cited the song in his assessment of the Beatles as solo artists, saying that All Things Must Pass and Harrison's organisation of the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh project ensured he had "far surpassed" Lennon and McCartney since the band's break-up.

[72] Reviewing the 30th anniversary edition of the album, James Hunter of Rolling Stone enthused about the performance: "Imagine a rock orchestra recorded with sensitivity and teeth and faraway mikes: bluesy and intricate on Harrison and Dylan's 'I'd Have You Anytime,' fizzy on 'Apple Scruffs,' grooving on 'Let It Down,' and spookily proto-disco on 'Art of Dying.

'"[1] In another 2001 review, for The New York Times, Jody Rosen grouped "Art of Dying" with "Wah-Wah" and "Hear Me Lord" as examples of how Spector successfully transformed Harrison's compositions on an "operatic scale".

Rosen added: "The symphonic squall of these songs seems less about rock star hubris than Mr. Harrison's straining to express outsized emotions – sorrow, regret, longing, writ very large.

[75] Writing for Uncut in 2008, David Cavanagh said that, while "My Sweet Lord" was the best-known of the spiritually themed songs on All Things Must Pass, "Art of Dying" was the most "far-sighted", with a lyric that "saw the 27-year-old Harrison prepare for death in an ecstasy of resolved, purified karma".

[77] Damian Fanelli of Guitar World includes the song among the best of Clapton's many collaborations with members of the Beatles, describing it as "outstanding" and "wah-tastic ... the closest Harrison got to hard rock as a solo artist".

Gilmore added that the "love story" surrounding the Beatles best illustrated such a "dichotomy" and none of the band members "carried that knowledge with greater weight, yearning or honor than George Harrison".

"[28]New Zealand Herald journalist Graham Reid cited the song's lyrics and Harrison's example in an article he wrote about the contrasting ways that individuals face the notion of death and live accordingly.

[88] The book followed the 1988 documentary film Walking After Midnight,[88] in which well-known figures such as Starr, Martin Sheen, Willie Nelson, Donovan and the Dalai Lama speculate on their past incarnations.

[30] Ian Inglis writes that "Art of Dying" fully reflects Harrison's "post-Beatles confidence" and notes the Middle Eastern "musical antecedents" despite the obvious Hindu concepts within the lyrics.

[93] In his book While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Simon Leng views "Art of Dying" as picking up "where 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and 'Within You Without You' paused", and adds: "If ever a song challenged the one-eyed nature of the rock world, this is it.

[98][99] Early mixes of the released track, showing the recording at various stages during the overdubbing process, have been issued on the bootlegs The Making of All Things Must Pass[100] and Songs for Patti – The Mastertape Version.