Although the album was completed in the spring of 1991, it was not released until 1992; the band was not happy with the artwork and packaging, and went through several ideas that were eventually scrapped.

[4] Generator was the band's first release with drummer Bobby Schayer, who replaced Pete Finestone during the Against the Grain tour.

[5] Following the release of Bad Religion's fifth studio album Against the Grain (1990), drummer Pete Finestone left to focus on his other band the Fishermen.

Although many songs hold true to their hardcore-punk roots ("Generator", "Tomorrow", "Fertile Crescent"), select tracks suggested the band moving towards a slower, more experimental route ("Two Babies In The Dark", "The Answer"), as well as a darker one ("Atomic Garden").

Along with Bad Religion's first five albums (minus Into the Unknown), Epitaph Records released a remastered version of Generator on April 6, 2004, with two exclusive tracks that were taken from the split 7-inch with Noam Chomsky, New World Order: War #1, issued by Maximum Rock'N Roll in 1991.