"Rattus Norvegicus" was ranked at No. 10 among the top "Albums of the Year" for 1977 by "NME", with "Peaches" ranked at No. 18 among the year's top tracks. "NME" later ranked it at No. 196 in its 2014 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It was included in Robert Dimery's "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". In 2000 it was voted number 766 in Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums". During promotion of "The Head on the Door" in 1985, Robert Smith of the Cure cited "Rattus Norvegicus" as one of his five favorite albums.