According to their label Smekkleysa, the album sold 10,000 copies on its first year of release in Iceland, earning the band platinum status.

The sketch of a human foetus on the cover was drawn by Gotti Bernhöft with a Bic Cristal ballpoint pen.

[4] The booklet cover for the CD edition of the album features the line: "Ég gaf ykkur von sem varð að vonbrigðum... þetta er ágætis byrjun" which translates to "I gave you (plural) hope that became a disappointment... this is a good beginning".

After surprising success in Iceland, the album subsequently gained strong international buzz with numerous articles in many prominent publications, hype from internet message boards and blogs, as well as often exuberant critical praise.

Ágætis byrjun was released in the United Kingdom in 2000, and in the North American market in 2001 by Fat Cat Records.

The album's tracks have also been featured in soundtracks; "Starálfur" was used in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou[17] and the Emmy winning 2005 TV film The Girl in the Café.

It was to feature previously unheard studio and live recordings as well as photographic and documentary material from the band's personal archives.

24 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart in January and as of 2008[update] it has sold 227,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.