It is seen as a stylistically consistent with the melodic pop sensibilities of their earliest albums, along with the more rock-driven sound and production of their most commercially successful releases.

Butch Vig's departure from the project convinced Capitol's new leadership to drop The Smithereens from the label.

Rolling Stone gave it four stars, calling the band's sound "distinctive and accessible", and complimenting Pat DiNizio's songcraft, which now included more driving, electrified guitar, humor, and socially conscious lyrics than on previous efforts.

[3] Entertainment Weekly rated the album a B, noting that the melodic, "guitar-driven power pop" had moments of humor.

[8] This opinion was shared by Trouser Press, who felt that the album was inconsistent, weighed down by negativity even when trying to express more poetic, pop sentiment.

[10] Sources: Discogs,[11] Allmusic,[2] 45cat[12] All tracks are written by Pat DiNizio, except where notedBox set vinyl edition: The box set vinyl edition of the album also contained the additional tracks "I'm Sexy", "Keep Me Running" (Demo) and "Everything I Have Is Blue" (Demo).