Sal Villanueva, who served as the producer, the production team and members of different bands contributed additional instrumentation to the recordings.

Waiting received enough attention to be noticed by Victory Records, who flew out representatives to watch them play a show in their hometown.

[4] The majority of the songs that ended up on Full Collapse were written in the basement of frontman Geoff Rickly's parents' house.

[18] Full Collapse lacks some of the typical traits of emo in favor of Johnny Marr-like picking in a minor key, against power chords.

[11] The opening track, "A0001", sees Rickly pondering whether a robot is capable of dreaming, as guitar feedback gives way to two snare hits.

[20][24] "Paris in Flames" discusses transgender and LGBT activism, as well as mentioning prejudices that a gay friend of Rickly's had faced.

[24][25] "Standing on the Edge of Summer" talks about impending death and reuses a guitar effect heard in "Understanding in a Car Crash".

[26] The design of the physical was debated: the band hoped to create a booklet of artwork for Full Collapse but were discouraged by Victory founder Tony Brummel who insisted on a less expensive one-page insert without printed lyrics.

[34] In December 2001, the music video for "Understanding in a Car Crash", which consists of live footage, began airing on MTVX, MTV2, and MuchMusic.

[35] Doane interpreted the song to be about rebirth and marriage; the video is centered around a guy, who is jobless, single, and offers nothing to society.

[39][40] In May 2002, as Thursday's signing to Island Def Jam had become imminent, the band released a statement through their website detailing their internal problems with Victory and reasons for leaving.

During a visit to Victory's offices, they also discovered that for promotional purposes, the label made Thursday-branded whoopee cushions, which were intended to be distributed to fans at the Warped Tour.

The band continually emphasized the need to communicate regarding art direction and promotion, but were allegedly ignored by Brummel and told that Victory was too big to run everything past its artists.

By early 2002, the decision to join Island was made as MCA began promoting Full Collapse as their own,[7] and Thursday found itself in a legal battle with the label.

[3] Live versions of "Understanding in a Car Crash", "Autobiography of a Nation", "Paris in Flames", and "Standing on the Edge of Summer" would appear on the band's second EP Five Stories Falling (2002).

[47] Thursday would later use Victory's lawyers to leave Island in 2007 and reunite with Brummel to work on the live/video album Kill the House Lights (2007).

He said that the album's "biggest draw musically" was the way it moves between the "harsh and abrasive to the ambient and soothing in a matter of mere seconds".

"[16] Sputnikmusic staff member DaveyBoy said that while it wasn't the "most immediate album of all time", listeners would be "rewarded as Thursday get the best out of themselves here and hardly put a foot wrong".

He adds that the band "take us on a wild 14-track ride that starts with the careening "Understanding In a Car Crash" and doesn't stop until some 40 minutes later.

"[53] The staff at Manila Standard said hardcore fanatics would be "dissatisfied with the mingling of genres but Thursday handles the juggling act well".

[54] Wondering Sound contributor Jonah Bayer said Rickly's "strikingly literary musings were packed with so much imagery and iconography that teens all over the country instantly latched onto these post-hardcore anthems".

[15] Rolling Stone's Gavin Edwards found the band to be "peel[ing] the scab off endless varieties of pain" with their lyrics, tackling "heartbreak[, ...] watching a friend die[, ... and] even guilt over genocide".

[51] AllMusic reviewer Kurt Morris wrote that while Thursday was "generating intelligent music", they do their "best to skirt the line of emo-pop without being unexciting or blasé".

"[49] Todd Burns of Stylus Magazine wrote that sections of tracks "exhibit obvious skill and technical proficiency, but are quickly ruined by Rickly's vocals or other elements that intrude on the small moments of interest".

[59] In February 2009, Thursday announced that they would perform Full Collapse in its entirety for a one-off show on the Taste of Chaos tour.

[64] In 2018, the band performed a run of two-night shows where they played Full Collapse on the first night and their third studio album, War All the Time (2003), on the other, in entirety.

[65] In a 2010 interview, Rickly described the album's significance to both the band and its fans: According to Drowned in Sound, Full Collapse was "instantly hailed [as] an emo classic" upon release.

[66] It has influenced acts such as As Cities Burn, My Chemical Romance, Senses Fail, and This Day Forward (specifically their 2003 release In Response).

[67][68][69] Rickly would describe Full Collapse as a "turning point record"[70] and strongly favor it over most of the band's other work for both its passion and cohesive feel throughout.