The album had a shaky production history as a result of creative differences between brothers Matthew and Gunnar Nelson and the Geffen Records executives, the latter led by John Kalodner.

However, when they presented the album to producer John Kalodner and the executives at Geffen Records, they weren't pleased.

The band decided to return to the studio and began working on a more acoustic-oriented album which was, according to Gunnar, "180 degrees in the opposite direction of Imaginator".

[3] "Won't Walk Away" was originally demoed in 1985 and an early version was performed during their 1986 Saturday Night Live appearance.

[2] Gunnar has also noted that People gave them the "best bad review in the history of rock 'n' roll" for Because They Can writing only "Maybe they shouldn’t".