Alex Henderson of
AllMusic rated three out of five stars to the album, summarising: "''A Bug's Life'' isn't an essential purchase by any means, although some of Newman's more hardcore and devoted fans might find it mildly interesting to hear this other side of him." Ian Freer of
Empire also rated three stars and called it as "very likeable but ultimately does not grab the attention as well as it might".
Filmtracks.com wrote "''A Bug's Life'' could leave non-Randy Newman fans cold. His jazz is predictable and his generic orchestral animation music begs for more personality. The highlights of both Newman's own
Pleasantville from the same year and the competing
Antz are superior to anything heard here." Rating four-and-a-half stars out of five, James Southall of
Movie Wave called the film's score as "the best of Newman's scores for Pixar" as it "lends itself better than the others to album treatment due to its more flowing, less bitty nature".
Far Out ranked third in the best of Newman's scores (top 10). Writing for that article, Calum Russell summarised: "Randy Newman’s
Bug’s Life score is a joy to listen to, taking the listener immediately back to Pixar’s animated world as it so well recreates the essence of the chaos of the city or the intensity of a bird sighting." == Track listing ==