It was the last of two Prism studio albums featuring lead vocalist Henry Small, who had replaced Ron Tabak after his forced departure in 1981.

It features high-profile guest backing vocalists, including the Eagles' Timothy B. Schmit, Toto's Bobby Kimball and Chicago's Bill Champlin.

Beat Street was received negatively by the majority of music critics and it was also a commercial disappointment; failing to reach the Billboard Top 200 and peaked outside the chart at No.

The album was re-issued in January 2009 on Renaissance in the United States as a digitally remastered CD, featuring rare bonus content.

[2] Reviewing for AllMusic critic Mike DeGagne wrote that the album "contains none of Prism's past arena rock charm or instrumental stamina."

"[3] All tracks are written by Davitt Sigerson, Henry Small, and Richie Zito, except where notedCredits are adapted from the album's liner notes.