Gregory McIntosh of AllMusic wrote, "When Impasse was released in late 2002, it was widely noted in the press that Buckner and his second wife, Penny Jo Buckner, were the only two musicians on the album and that, between the recording and the release of Impasse, the pair had split.

"[1] In a review in the Austin Chronicle, Jim Caligiuri wrote, "Like Buckner's past work, Impasse is a challenge that reveals itself only after much careful listening; he's got his own meter and way with melody.

"[2] Zac Johnson wrote in AllMusic, "Mellotron hums and vibraphone chimes back the singer's familiar growl and warm, nylon-stringed guitar, with textures floating past like faded slides bought from a garage sale."

"[3] Brandan Reid of Pitchfork wrote, "where we once were given a story, start to finish, Buckner now pours out a succession of vague images and emotions, and whenever he decides to cut off his stream of consciousness, it sounds like it's a little too soon.

"[4] In a retrospective review, Brian Howe of Pitchfork wrote, "Each song is titled by its own first line, making the tracklist an impromptu poem that demonstrates how Buckner's lyrics are at once self-sufficient and infinitely interchangeable: Seldom has he written a line that doesn't address itself to a fundamental sense of lapsed grace.