response About.com ranked "All the Man That I Need" number four in their list of "Top 20 Best Whitney Houston Songs" in 2018, noting that it has "a prominent gospel choir in the final chorus." In an 2020 retrospective review, Matthew Hocter from Albumism described it as "a power ballad bringing some serious drama". AllMusic's Ashley S. Battel said that the song is one of "the two high points she does reach on this album [I'm Your Baby Tonight]", and added "the uplifting tale of another's love being enough to provide happiness in [the song]." Music video The accompanying music video for "All the Man That I Need" was directed by Peter Israelson. The video begins with Houston, donning a curly hairstyle, and wearing a black turtleneck, with her initials "WH" embroidered on it, standing against a wall in a house. She then moves forward in the room, and sits on a chair, singing her lines looking into the camera. The video then switches into another room in the house with all white furniture, including a bed, wardrobe, and grand piano, in which Houston sings. She then moves outside on the balcony, where it is raining. After that scene, she is now seen performing, accompanied by a children's choir, on a stage, in front of an audience at some sort of program. The video ends with Houston finishing the performance, with her outline shown online. Live performances Houston performed the song on three of her regional and two world tours. She premiered the song in January 1990, during her Feels So Right Japan Tour, before the release of I'm Your Baby Tonight. The song was performed in 1991 in the Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston concert, and is included on the concert film, taped in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 31, 1991. This performance was also included in the 2014 CD/DVD release, Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances. The song was also performed on her third world tour, I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour. Two different performances of the song on this tour were taped in Yokohama, Japan, on March 15, 1991 and in A Coruña, Spain, on September 29, 1991. The former was broadcast on Japanese TV channel. The latter was aired on Spanish TV channel, and in the United States, her first hourlong TV special, "Whitney Houston: This Is My Life," on ABC TV, dated May 6, 1992.