Kingdom, the band received praise from popular music magazines, including Q and Select. The NME rated the album seven out of ten and said "Space are worthy of a superlative that is all too rare in new British pop right now. No, not 'novelty'. Just 'unique'." The reviewer found it unusual for a Northwest band to employ "wit, irony and humour". The album was also well received by American critics. Todd Martens of the Daily Trojan said that "almost every track on this album contains something worth admiring." Jonathan Dale of the UWO Gazette said that, "regardless of what the interpretation is, Space creates original sounds that, despite the images surrounding it, will always remain witty, whimsical pop that everyone deserves to hear...despite certain phobias." Later commentary on the album has also been positive. Alex Henderson of AllMusic, in a retrospective review, was largely favourable, calling it "quirky and often highly clever" and "one of the most appealing alternative rock releases of 1996". He praised their "enjoyably twisted sense of humour" and said that, although "the rockers can be overly self-indulgent," Space, "like Frank Zappa and George Clinton, generally use their eccentricity advantageously". The album was highlighted as an "Album Pick" on the website. Writer Colin Larkin rated the album three stars out of five in his 2000 book The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music. Legacy The album has been features in critics' lists of the best albums of 1996 and in some cases of all time. At the end of 1996, Select ranked Spiders at number 23 in their list of the best albums of the year. The album also ranked 9th in NME'''s readers poll of the 10 best albums of 1996. In 1997, the album ranked 77th in Virgin Megastores' "Chart of the Century" poll of the 100 greatest albums of all time. In 1998, the album ranked 551st in the updated version of the book All Time Top 1000 Albums, a list of the greatest albums of all time that was the result of over 200,000 votes cast by informed music lovers and ranked in order. In 2017, Pitchfork ranked Spiders at number 41 in their list of "The 50 Best Britpop Albums". "Female of the Species" has also featured in critics' lists. Select named it the 6th best single of 1996. It also ranked at number 40 in NME's list of the top 50 singles