Edsel Dope would later express dissatisfaction at the marketing process for the band's last album, blaming poor sales on the label's owner making "a bunch of bad business decisions".

Fortunately, Artemis Records willingly bought out Recon, providing the band with more control over money and promotion.

[4] The album was self-produced by lead vocalist Edsel Dope, who also handled most of the songwriting with guitarist Virus.

"[7] Edsel also incorporated elements of tongue-in-cheek humor in his lyrics, particularly on the tracks Sex Machine and I Wish I Was The President.

He would later comment that he consciously wanted to let his sense of humor come out in both recordings and live shows, claiming that he previously fell for the common rookie mistake of taking himself too seriously.

The Life is a re-worked and re-recorded version of an old Dope song named City Tonight, which was originally written before the band's debut album.

[8] In 2004, to build anticipation for the upcoming album's release, the band headed out on the American Apathy tour from October 7 until December 21.

In a 4/10 review, Blabbermouth labelled the album "slightly better [compared to Group Therapy]", but ultimately claimed it was "difficult to take seriously.

"[11] In a more positive review, The Metal Forge labelled the album as "their strongest to date", but also noted that some tracks felt like filler, specifically naming The Life.