2015, the staff of Billboard magazine called it an "uneven album" but "not as bad as some detractors would have you believe". They stated, "you have to applaud the album's adventurous melange of electronica, folk and pop music – not to mention the incisive, skeptical lyrics". Chuck Arnold from the same magazine, noted American Life as "underappreciated", "ambitious" and complimented the album's cohesiveness. Mike Wass from Idolator headlined American Life as an "underrated gem". While reviewing the album and her discography, Saeed Saeed from The National commented that "even Madonna's worst albums are considered a solid offering when compared to other artists". The album also become a cult favorite among some Madonna fans. Conversely, in January 2023, Rolling Stone ranked American Life at number 26 on their list of the 50 Genuinely Horrible Albums by Brilliant Artists, characterizing "the whole project [...] hopelessly muddled when it wasn't just downright embarrassing". American Life also achieved award nominations. In 2004, the album was nominated at the 46th Grammy Awards in two categories "Best Short Form Music Video" and "Best Dance Recording", both for the song "Die Another Day." It was also nominated for "Best Video from a Film" at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. At the Hungarian Music Awards of 2004 and 2005, the album was nominated both times in the category of "International Pop Album of the Year", but failed to win. Another nomination was for a similar category at the NRJ Music Awards of 2004. Commercial performance After its release, American Life debuted at number one on the United States Billboard 200 chart with 241,000 copies sold in its first week. The sales were less than Madonna's previous studio album, Music, which debuted with 420,000 copies in 2000, but was the only one that week to sell over 200,000 copies. It was Madonna's second consecutive number one debut, and her fifth number one album overall in the US. The next week, sales dropped by 62% to 91,000 copies, and the album slid from the top of the chart to number eight. It continued to decrease in sales down the chart and fell off the Billboard 200. In September 2003, following Madonna's performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, the album saw a sales gain of 19%, but did not chart back. On July 7, 2003, just months after the release, it was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association