In 1995, American DJ, record producer, remixer and songwriter
Armand van Helden named "French Kiss" one of his "classic cuts", saying, "This song is my first introduction to
trance because, to me, it's a serious
house track. It was for real house enthusiasts at the time. It's a simple track which builds, it's very electronic. It's full of soul. It's very sexual. It's the first
dance track I've known to date to change bpms drastically – I've never heard of an electronic track that had the balls to do that." Also British DJ and producer
Pete Tong named it one of his "classic cuts" the same year, adding, "One of the most important riffs ever written in house music and frequently imitated but never bettered. Everyone else has put it in their charts so why shouldn't I? I signed it and it makes me proud. You can hear its influence in almost 50% of house music that comes out in Europe." In 1996,
Mixmag ranked it number 53 in its "100 Greatest Dance Singles of All Time" list, commenting, "Back in 1989, this was the record that every DJ needed. The one that, if you dared mix out it before the slow down -
orgasm bit - speed up gimmick, a horde of people would come up to the DJ for a whinge. At the time it was a bit of fun, a peak time stomper for the height of orbital raving. But looking back, nothing else set the repetitive building tone so much for what would become trance. Ten minutes of eyes-closed bliss from
Chicago's legendary trackhead." In 2003,
Q Magazine ranked it number 516 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". In 2006,
Slant Magazine ranked it 7th in its "100 Greatest Dance Songs" list, adding, "'French Kiss' is a moaning, sex-as-house track that audaciously and amazingly
slows down and then stops altogether. It builds again, chugging back to its initial speed until it fades brighter than ever in post-orgasmic glow." In 2014,
Rolling Stone featured it in their "20 Best Chicago House Records" list, saying, "For all the pseudo-romantic flailings of contemporary
EDM diva anthems, it's hard to match the raw sexiness of this track, whose vocals came courtesy of
Shawn Christopher. But Louis also stretched house's characteristic build-ups to their most dramatic extreme for the era. "French Kiss" is one long, drawn-out crescendo to a climax — get it? — and it hits an almost
techno-like, robotic trance." In 2015,
Time Out's list of "The 20 Best House Tracks Ever" included it as number four. They wrote, "This number from Chicago's Lil' Louis was one of the first house tracks to enjoy both considerable commercial success and heavy club airplay on its release. Even one listen to its infectious, unrelenting groove and orgasmic tempo shifts is enough to understand why it got everyone so excited. In 2020,
NME ranked "French Kiss" among "The 20 Best House Music Songs... Ever!", while
Slant Magazine ranked it number 26 in their list of "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time". In 2022,
Rolling Stone ranked it number 21 in their list of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". In 2024,
Classic Pop ranked "French Kiss" number nine in their list of "Top 20 80s House Hits" and
DJ Mag featured it in their "40 Essential Tracks from 40 Years of House Music". In 2025,
Billboard magazine ranked it numbers 53 and 18 in their lists of "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time" and "The 50 Best House Songs of All Time". ==Formats and track listings==