[5] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Twenty seconds into this playfully experimental single, and you'll find it hard to remember that this is the same band that recorded 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'."

He said that the song "wriggles and writhes with tripped-out techno-funk intensity" and that the hook "sneaks up on you while you are twitching to the percolating dance beat or snarfing up the tasty guitar scratching offered by the Edge".

Flick concluded, "'Discotheque' may start its life at modern rock radio and in clubs, but it sure does sound like the kind of fun and unique record that top 40 desperately needs.

"[6] Kevin Courtney from Irish Times commented, "U2's much-touted "dance influences" are right to the fore here, with Larry's drums laying down a strident beat reminiscent of "The Fly", and The Edge mixing distorted guitars with crazy compressed electronic effects.

The atmosphere is one of taut stretched out tension as though the song was being pulled apart in four different directions, but then everything suddenly goes slack, resolving into a fluid, delayed-effect guitar lick by the Edge.

He added, "This time around, Bono's vocals lie farther back in the mix than in the past, and anyone expecting a traditional verse and chorus structure will struggle to find it here.

"[8] A reviewer from Music Week rated it five out of five, declaring it as a "stunning new single which, echoing the spirit of "The Fly", sees producer Flood successfully combining an electronic-sounding Bono vocal with a dark, yet undeniably funky backing.

U2 further and directly alluded to the Village People, a popular disco era band, by similarly adopting the guises of various professions: a motorcycle police officer (Bono), a gay-fetish biker (the Edge), an American sailor (Adam Clayton) and a cowboy (Larry Mullen Jr.).