"[12] Carmen wrote much of the song alone at the piano, but lead guitarist Wally Bryson believed that he should have received a songwriting credit for coming up with its famous intro guitar riff.

[13] Engineer Shelly Yakus employed heavy dynamic range compression from a prototype limiter on the song in order to increase the power of the music.

[12] Allmusic critic Mark Deming called it "among the finest records ever made about one of the key subjects in rock & roll — convincing your girlfriend to have sex with you," saying that it "merges smooth harmony parts and an easygoing melody with hook-laden breaks and a guitar figure that Pete Townshend would have been happy to have dreamed up.

"[21] Kachejian also noted that "The way the verse transcends into the song's chorus riding on the wings of Eric Carmen's legendary lead vocal is one for the ages.

"[16] Steve Sullivan wrote in the Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings that the opening guitar riff is one of the best in rock, saying that it "still has the capacity to startle and thrill more than four decades later.

In interviews, hard rock/metal personality Eddie Trunk, states that this song sparked his interest in music due mainly to the distorted guitar riffs.

"Go All the Way" was included on the Raspberries Pop Art Live CD set from their reunion concert recording, November 26, 2004, at the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio, released August 18, 2017.