phattened by nifty femme vocal chants. In its current form, "Connected" is a sturdy precursor to an evening or a fine way to wind down into daylight." In 1993, Flick commented that the track, a "mid-tempo retro-funk affair", "has been making inroads with urban-minded DJs for several weeks now. "The song 'Connected' is about human beings and the lack of connection there is between anything today," [band member Nick] Hallam says. "It's about the way everyone tries to categorize everything. The way every race is trying to separate from each other." Per Reinholdt Nielsen from Gaffa wrote that the song "is a clever lesson in funk. The number is extremely simple. A great sound sampled from half a beat KC and the Sunshine Band pulls back, while Owen If whips the drums forward. Three chorus girls, rapper Rob Birch and various samples decorate the landscape, but it is the sucks of the "two rhythm groups" that lock "Connected" into the memory and body of the defenseless listener." Melody Maker declared it as "a funky, snazzy, chirpy hip hop song with more than a hint of an Andrew Weatherall-esque shuffle to Owen If's live drumming. The R&B organ and jazzy flute act as crafty counters to Rob B's half-man, half-dog growl and, once you've heard the chorus a couple of times, I guarantee you will be humming it until Christmas 1993." The reviewer added, "Go on - buy it, and make an old fella happy." Pan-European magazine Music & Media stated that it's a "sure hit", noting further "the new female vocalists shining over expressive rich grooves." Alan Jones from Music Week said in his review of the Connected album, that "the introductory single "Connected", with its pulsing bass, and slick femme harmonies is fairly typical of the fare here, with what raps there are well-couched and friendly." Jonathan Bernstein from Spin remarked its "maximum uplift", writing, "Imagine a less lush Massive Attack and you're almost there." Victor Haseman from The Stanford Daily commented that the Stereo MC's "have made stitching their patchwork quilt of Euro-electro pop, hip-hop and house their top priority, tirelessly pushing it in new directions". Impact and legacy Paste ranked "Connected" number eight in their list of "25 Awesome One-Hit Wonders of the 1990s" in 2011. In 2014, the track was ranked number 322 in the German magazine Musikexpress list of the "700 Best Songs of All-Time".