In a more mixed review, AllMusic's David Jeffries called the song an "icy cold reading" of the original. Noting that it had a "lavish-yet-empty feeling", Aisha Harris from "Slate" magazine wrote in her review: "The song has the feel of a blurry stupor—fitting... for the dark undertones of "The Great Gatsby", but not terribly satisfying outside that context. Winehouse's vocals had a visceral, emotional punch, whereas here, there's little connection between the sound of the voices and the meaning of the lyrics. 'Life is like a pipe/ And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside' doesn't feel as meaningful coming from Beyoncé as it did from Winehouse." Thomas Conner from the "Chicago Sun-Times" wrote that Beyoncé surprises by downshifting into "indie-chanteuse mode" for the cover, which he noted was sung "with a sad sexual tension that approaches torch song but never ignites it". Newman from the website HitFix wrote in her review that the original version was stronger than the cover and added that it felt like it was a song by André 3000 featuring Beyoncé as the song mainly featured his vocals. She finished her review by grading the cover with a B-side and wrote, "André 3000 and Beyoncé aren't afraid to rework the track and make it their own, for which they deserve credit, but their remake won't make anyone forget Amy's version." Jim Farber of "New York Daily News" wrote in his review that "unfortunately" Beyoncé only makes a cameo appearance in the song while André 3000 dominates with a "rank rap and a woeful vocal". Writing that it sounded "dull", Cameron Adams of "Herald Sun" added "it's got nice guitar work but the minimal remake is worth it only to hear Bey sing, 'I love blow and you love puff'". "Paste" magazine's Philip Cosores wrote that "'Back to Black' sees Jay Z sticking his wife with a pretty raw deal, with the male half of the duet getting the opening verse and the chorus virtually to himself, leaving Bey with scraps at the end."