Upon its release,
Cash Box praised Knight as a "songwriter par excellence" and considered "Hanging on a Heart Attack" to be a "tough and eery rocker that has immediate appeal". The reviewer added that the "strong production and vocals from Paul Engemann highlight this latest Knight gem". Nancy Erlich of
Billboard noted that the song's "heavy duty dance beat and snippets of weirdness should please both mainstream and alternative rock crowds".
Gavin Report wrote, "Device is meticulously constructed from the ground up – right down to the odd guitar lick and a well timed key change. Straddling the line between Album Radio and Top Forty, a record like [this] pretty much defines the 80s modus operandi of airplay rock." Pan-European magazine
Music & Media picked the song as one of their "sure hits" in their issue of 16 August 1986 and noted its "melodic and powerful pop chording". ==Track listing==