DJ pedigree. In a review for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau cited "Grandbag's Funeral" and "Kinky Afro" as highlights but stated that "their Voidoids is hotter than their 'dance music'". Simon Reynolds, writing in The New York Times, called it a "perplexing mishmash" that can alienate listeners outside of Manchester's rave scene, "because it's designed to confuse and repel outsiders". In a less enthusiastic review, Bob Mack of Entertainment Weekly said that apart from "Step On" and "Donovan", the album shows that the band is less interesting than their Madchester contemporaries and do not warrant comparisons to the Rolling Stones. Jornal do Brasil Arthur Dapieve called it disappointing, stating that the titles of the songs match the monotony of their sound. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches a hedonistic album that was the peak of Happy Mondays' "career (and quite arguably the whole baggy/Madchester movement) ... a celebratory collage of sex, drugs, and dead-end jobs where there's no despair because only a sucker could think that this party would ever come to an end". The staff at Q magazine called it their "artistic peak" and a "top-hole album", while the staff at PopMatters saw the album as the band's "masterpiece", dubbing it the "Ulysses of modern rock music — the rock album that didn’t just question what rock music is, but ignored what rock music is". BBC Music reviewer Daryl Easlea wrote that the album "all gets a bit much toward the end, but no matter, what a hoot it is on the way there". Commercial performance Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches had 150,000 pre-orders. It peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart, selling 400,000 copies after spending 28 consecutive weeks on the chart. It was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in March 1991. It also charted at number 27 in New Zealand, number 30 in Austria, number 41 in Sweden, number 89 in the US, and number 98 in Australia. "Step On" charted at number five in the UK, and number 46 in the Netherlands. In the US, it reached number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as number nine on Alternative Airplay, number 13 on Dance Club Songs, number 46 on Dance Singles Sales, It was certified gold by the BPI in May 2021. "Kinky Afro" charted at number five in