from the Gavin Report commented, "Those asking the musical question—can Ace Of Base repeat? The answer is Yes! Yes! Yes!" Pan-European magazine Music & Media said the song has a "hyper-kinetic rhythm topped off by a killer hook that's part of your system before you realise it." A reviewer from Music Week rated it three out of five, noting the band's "switch from light reggae to pure Europop" and describing it as "uplifting but unremarkable." Neil Strauss from The New York Times felt it is "pure treacly pleasure, with bubbling keyboards and a fast, chirpy rhythm that will inspire most listeners to forget that the 70's ever ended and accept the chorus – "It's a beautiful life"—for one night of disco-era hedonism." Bob Waliszewski of Plugged In viewed it as "a joyful admonition to hang tough when times get hard." J.D. Considine for Spin magazine noted in a writeup about The Bridge that "the real genius of Ace of Base lies not with perky singing... but with the ability to make melancholy sound so damned appealing." The evaluation continues to narrow in scope as he continues to say "even the cheerfully titled 'Beautiful life' dampens its club-savvy stomp with a heartbreaking minor key chorus." A reviewer from People Magazine opined that it "offers a blast of jumpy techno". Chuck Campbell from Scripps Howard News Service said that it is "contagious" and "a high-energy dance song that rings with unbridled optimism (and eschews the reggae cadence of the group's previous American hits)." He added that "the Berggren sisters sing in ABBA-esque exclamation points on the song." Chart performance "Beautiful Life" was very successful worldwide, reaching number-one both on the RPM Dance/Urban chart in Canada and the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in the United States. In Europe, it made it to the top 10 in Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary and Lithuania, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100 and MTV's European Top 20, where it hit number nine and eight. Additionally, the single was a top 20 hit in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Scotland and the United Kingdom. In the latter, it peaked at number 15 in its second week at the UK Singles Chart, on January 28, 1996. Outside Europe, "Beautiful Life" also reached number three on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada, number 11 in Australia, number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number ten on