"What Is Life" is one of Harrison's most commercial and popular songs – a "spiritual guitar quest" that "became classic", according to "Rolling Stone" magazine. In their "Solo Beatles Compendium", authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter refer to it as an "intensely catchy track" and view its pairing with "My Sweet Lord" in the UK as perhaps the strongest of all of Harrison's singles. Writing in 1981, "NME" critic Bob Woffinden grouped "What Is Life" with "My Sweet Lord", "Isn't It a Pity" and "Awaiting on You All" as "all excellent songs".