[7] The Los Angeles Times reflected this by saying she "mixes words like a master, catching lifetimes of ache and Angst" in her songs[8] while the Chicago Tribune compared her to Elvis Costello.

[5] Rolling Stone cited her music as "sunny, surreal melodies" with "razor-sharp lyrics".

[11] The Independent's Andy Gill highly recommended the album, concluding that "it's the tension between Mann's disarmingly direct, conversational lyric style and the complexity of her musical design that gives Whatever its peculiar charge.

[16] As of February 2001, combined sales for two releases of Whatever stood at 170,000 copies sold in United States.

In 1994, BMG Records in Germany released a limited edition Whatever – An Exclusive Collection.