Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984, consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had been sent to the band.

The sound quality of the Bullshit Detector series was mixed, and was often very basic or poor as Crass would master the tapes directly to record without any additional production or enhancement.

For Crass, the expectation of a polished performance was missing the point of the DIY punk ethic: – Sleeve notes from Bullshit Detector Volume 3 The title Bullshit Detector was derived as a reference to the Clash song "Garageland" from their first LP The Clash, a song covered by Chumbawamba guitarist Boffo on the second volume.

The POWER sleeve with marker pen art was designed by Haggis, AKA David Hargreaves lead singer of Youthanasia PX.

A fourth, unofficial Bullshit Detector, this time an international compilation, was released by the Swiss independent anarcho-punk record label Resistance Productions in 1994.