Gary Giddins stated that "Chasin' the Trane" was "the most vivid documentation of [Coltrane's] struggle to date," describing it as "preeminent and indispensable... a sweat-soaked fury of resolute musical invention" He wrote: "Gone are the piano, routine theme, harmonic substitutions, auxiliary soloist(s), call-and-response, and conventional duration. He attenuates the music still more by draining his virtuoso technique — sanding the shine off his sound, indulging a glossary of false notes, overtones, and vocalisms. He pushes himself and the blues to the limits of endurance, drawing light from dark, pleasure from pain, liberation from constraint."