[3] It was the last album recorded with drummer Pete Finestone, who left in 1991 to concentrate with his new project The Fishermen.

Against the Grain is one of the few Bad Religion albums to feature songs not written by Greg Graffin or Brett Gurewitz.

While Against the Grain still failed to break Bad Religion into mainstream audiences, it was the first 100,000 seller, and showed how quickly they were growing.

AllMusic's Johnny Loftus said that Against the Grain "found the band's edge honed sharper than it had been in years", and claimed that "Bad Religion had always warned against the excesses of the future and the assimilation of individuality.

The now-trademarked multi-part harmonies emerge full born, and though the songs remain frenetic, the sound is brighter, bigger, verging on anthemic.