"BWPS" was universally acclaimed by critics and peaked at number 13 in the US and number 7 in the UK. It earned Wilson his first Grammy Award, winning in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow". In 2011, the album's sequencing served as a blueprint for "The Smile Sessions", a compilation dedicated to the original Beach Boys recordings. In 2020, "Rolling Stone" ranked "BWPS" at number 399 on the magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".