These include those that assisted with the material from their debut album, such as Emanuel Kiriakou, Lindy Robbins, Nicholas Furlong, Damon Sharpe, Eric Sanicola and Lucas Secon, along with other notable songwriters and producers, such as JR Rotem, Christopher Stewart, The-Dream, Jay Sean, and Ryan Tedder.

Nickelodeon hosted a thirty-minute special called Big Time Rush: Music Sounds Better With U in which scenes from the band's tour and studio recording sessions are compiled together for airing.

While visiting the United Kingdom in 2012, the band revealed 4 alternate covers for the album exclusive to the country, each one featuring individual pictures of each of the members and an autograph.

[4][5][6][7] The album received mixed to positive reviews with music critics and fans, mostly praising the production and more mature sound.

Matt Collar of AllMusic stated, "the album brings to mind a mix of Maroon 5's funky soul-pop and the yearning alt-rock of OneRepublic.

He praised songs such as "Music Sounds Better With U", "No Idea" and "Time of Our Life" calling them, "positive-minded and joyful party tracks.

"[8] Jessica Dawson of Common Sense Media said, "The songs are crisper and more contemporary, letting them show off their boy-band harmonies with beats that are catchy but perhaps a bit too synthesized.