Upon its release as a single,
Charles Shaar Murray of the
NME called "Breaking Us in Two" "one of those 'Let's sit down and have a serious talk about our relationship' songs for which Jackson is so justly famous". He added, "This one is pleasant rather than stirring, a medium-paced toe-tapper with suitably anguished lyrics and some fairly stylish piano playing."
Geoff Barton of
Sounds was negative, describing the "miserable, depressing, mournful ballad" as an "ugly grey stain in the Dalmatians' colourful world".
Edwyn Collins, as a guest reviewer for
Melody Maker, said, "This is another song that's just full of cliches. It's almost a pastiche. It's just so mediocre. If you heard it on the radio it would be some totally ambient background noise.
Brian Eno would be proud of him." In the US,
Billboard said it was "jazzy and precise [and] similar in tone to the top 10 '
Steppin' Out'." ==Chart history==