Following the commercial failure and lack of recognition for their third studio album Clarity (1999) from Capitol Records, Jimmy Eat World were dropped by the label in late 1999.

It was recorded with Mark Trombino and the band served as producers in October and November 2000 at the Cherokee and Harddrive studios in Los Angeles, respectively.

"Bleed American" was released to radio on June 5, 2001 as the album's lead single, coinciding with Jimmy Eat World's tours of Australia and Japan (the latter supporting Eastern Youth).

In August 2002, Bleed American was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after its sales reached over one million copies.

[3] Capitol began to shelve the album until radio stations started playing the song "Lucky Denver Mint", which became its second track.

[7] In August 2000, Jimmy Eat World released the compilation album Singles through the independent label Big Wheel Recreation, which included B-sides and unreleased songs from the band up to that point.

[7][11] The band took a brief break to tour with Jebediah for two and a half weeks, including a performance at CMJ's New Music Marathon festival, before returning to Los Angeles.

"[21] In regard to the stylistic approach of the album, Adkins said, "Things still got pretty gnarly in the studio as far as experimentation, but it was always to an end that was complimentary [sic] to the song.

Mark Vanderhoff of AllMusic said that Bleed American didn't have any "16 minute songs," referencing "Goodbye Sky Harbor" from Clarity.

[32][33][34] Journalist Alex Rice felt that its loud-quiet structure and lyrics about the disillusionment of youth recalled "Thinking, That's All", the opening track from Static Prevails.

[39] "Sweetness" was one of the songs that Adkins had more doubts about because of its lyrical content: "I just had this melody in my head and I was demoing it and singing it and kind of having a hard time with it.

[9] The album artwork, showing a set of bowling trophies sitting on top of a cigarette machine, is taken from William Eggleston's photograph "Memphis".

[29][59][61] The decision was ultimately the band's, which was supported by their label; instead of recalling existing copies, they simply had the name amended with subsequent pressings of the album.

[69] The UK 7" vinyl included a radio session version of "A Praise Chorus" as its B-side, while the European CD featured "No Sensitivity" and demos of "The Middle" and "My Sundown".

[73] The music video for "Sweetness" shows the band stationary as the world is altered around them; it was filmed in Los Angeles, with director Tim Hope.

[88] The band supported Blink-182 and Green Day on their co-headlining US Pop Disaster Tour in April and May 2002, which coincided with appearances on Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

[92][93] Preceded by an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, they embarked on a headlining US tour, with support from Desaparecidos, Recover and the Promise Ring.

[92][94] In September and October, the band performed at This Ain't No Picnic festival and on two dates of the Plea for Peace/Take Action Tour, in addition to an appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly.

"[106] Rolling Stone reviewer Barry Walters added to this, stating that it "sports the tender turbulence that insular emo kids have been enjoying in private for years," with the album appealing to fans of Creed and Blink-182 as well as new wave music.

[47] The staff at Entertainment Weekly observed the album as a "fine balancing act" of "emo-edged" tracks and "wallop-packed rockers", though Joe Warminsky III of The Morning Call disregarded the emo elements, describing it instead as a genuine rock record.

[21][104][108] NME writer Imran Ahmed said it was a "veritable pop-buzzsaw, rammed to its back teeth with infectious melodies and teen TV sentiment".

[101] Paul stated that unlike the band's prior albums, the second half of Bleed American was "quite strong, and really fleshes out the musical ideas from the record".

[109] Blender, on the other hand, was less pleased as the album's mainstream potential was "undercut by guitars, which are neither as gleefully blaring as Weezer's nor as cleanly melodic as the Knack's.

"[100][105] Aaron Scott of Slant Magazine believed the maturity the band showed through the album was capable of attracting a wide-ranging audience.

[103] Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber gave a much more negative and sarcastic review of the album, concluding, "So do the best you can, listen to your favorite band, bury your head in the sand, before it all begins again.

"[27] Mike Stagno of Sputnikmusic found Bleed American enjoyable, and noted its high replay value, particularly tracks such as "Sweetness" and "Get It Faster".

[24] Louder Than War writer Sam Lambeth saw the album as a "hallmark of modern rock, a faultless record that may wear its heart on its sleeve, but elevates in its earnestness".

[119] Bleed American became a bestseller, and in its first four months on the US market, it sold 173,000 copies, making the album Jimmy Eat World's most successful release.

[141] Greenwald said Bleed American being certified platinum was one factor in emo reaching mainstream media attention in mid-2002, alongside Vagrant Records having significant sales figures on its releases and Dashboard Confessional appearing on MTV Unplugged.

[143] Greenwald mentioned that with Bleed American being their "poppiest, most universal album to date," the band "broke out of the indie/emo ghetto, but by doing so, they also defined its sound 'as' emo for hundreds of thousands of new listeners".