"Today" was one of the most successful early singles by the Smashing Pumpkins, and additionally has been recognized as one of the songs that brought the Pumpkins into the mainstream. The song was, at the time of its release, the highest-charting song by the band, peaking at number four on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. The song also reached a peak position of number 28 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks, and was one of the first Pumpkins songs to chart in the UK, peaking at number 44. "Today" was later called one of the "hits that took the cool alternative band into stadium rock territory" by the BBC's Dan Tallis in a review of the band's greatest hits album, Rotten Apples, and similarly referred to as the "Smashing Pumpkins' red carpet to the glorified frat houses of alternative rock radio" by Nick Sylvester of Pitchfork Media.
