The release of the remixed version of "Missing" gave an indication of the band's future experimentation with more electronic dance music on subsequent albums.

They had released eight albums prior to Amplified Heart and had a number-three UK singles chart success in 1988 ("I Don't Want to Talk About It"), but were relatively unknown in the United States.

"Missing" was recorded as a relaxed-sounding guitar-based popular music song that had earned modest broadcasting airplay on US Adult Contemporary radio.

Tracey Thorn later explained to Rolling Stone that the song was originally intended as a dance-oriented track:[3] It was written with that idea in mind, totally... we put on sort of a laid back house groove instead.

Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that "this forlorn love song is bolstered by a springy retro-pop arrangement that is brilliantly tweaked into a credible dance confection by post-producer Todd Terry.

Singer Tracey Thorn's performance is a study in affecting, but restrained emotion, and the chorus instantly sticks to the brain.

"[6] Steve Baltin from Cash Box noted that here, the duo "throw in everything but the sink", concluding with that "the blend is very effective, though, as the song comes off as a mix between Lisa Stansfield and Cowboy Junkies.

He added that "neither the song nor the grooves are all that hot on their own, but in combination they're great—the kind of heartfelt but not histrionic dancefloor simmer that's been too rare since, say, Lisa Stansfield's heyday a few years ago.

[10] Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Suddenly hip in the dance milieu due to Tracey Thorn's vocals on Massive Attacks "Protection", these remixes by Todd Terry and Ultramarine a.o.

"[14] James Hunter from Vibe remarked that Terry's remix had allowed singer Tracey Thorn "to grace stateside radios with her rare English soul", adding that her voice "is untouchable".

[17][18] Stopera and Galindo from BuzzFeed ranked it number 10 in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s" in 2017, commenting, "Have you ever sat and really thought about if the desert actually misses the rain?

[20] Idolator ranked it among "The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1995", calling the song a "noir-ish study in wistful longing, with a hint of lonely-but-relatable stalker in the lyric.

The song also eventually peaked inside the top ten in many European countries, including Austria, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

He said "Tracey's mournful voice fit perfectly over Todd's house beats to become a club classic and a pop hit around the world.

[31] In 2012, the song was listed at number 35 in NME's list of the "50 best-selling tracks of the 90s", adding: "The 1994 version of 'Missing' had at least a foot on the dancefloor - in defiance of EBTG style - but Todd Terry gave it the final push, his deep house beats complementing Tracey Thorn's rich melancholy pine.

It was produced by Frank Farian and appeared on their debut album, My Promise (1996), and its North American counterpart, No Mercy.