Hot Fuss spawned four critically and commercially successful singles: "Mr. Brightside", "Somebody Told Me", "All These Things That I've Done" and "Smile Like You Mean It".

The first part, "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf", appears on the band's B-sides and rarities compilation, Sawdust.

[11] The album heavily features a vocal effect called Echo Farm on Flowers' voice.

In 2014, Needham recounted, "There were three of us involved in the production company on that record: Braden Merrick, Jeff Saltzman and myself.

"[12] The album cover was photographed by Matthias Clamer in 2000, in the southern region of the suburbs of Beijing, China.

[13] The characters on top of each building ("建", "材", "开", and "发") translate to "construction material development".

It was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 1, 2005,[26] and as of January 2017, it had sold 3.75 million copies in the United States.

[28] On July 22, 2013, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified the album seven-times platinum;[30] by August 2020, it had sold 2,335,495 copies in the UK.

[34] Rolling Stone ranked Hot Fuss the 33rd of its list of "The 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time".