Enigma found the album difficult to market due to the group's change in musical style and image.

[1][5][4] They became friends with Guns N' Roses, whose were rising to stardom on the success of their platinum-selling debut album Appetite for Destruction, released ten days after Hit and Run.

"[5] Mike Boehm of the Los Angeles Times wrote in 1988 that it "served final notice that the band no longer was playing punk rock.

It was a polished, accessible record that consisted mostly of the sort of mainstream, melodic heavy rock that has brought big-time success to bands such as Guns N' Roses and the resurgent Aerosmith.

travelled to New York City for a showcase concert for representatives from major record labels, hoping to land a major-label deal.

"[6] Hit and Run failed to be the commercial breakthrough the band hoped for: "I thought we'd done it," Roche bemoaned, "It was diverse, it was powerful, and it could be played on the radio and sound good.

left Enigma in "an amicable split", feeling the label viewed them as a band with a cult following but without chart-topping potential.

Torreano called it "a sudden departure for the group, seeing them adopt a persona that was in tune with bands such as Poison and Faster Pussycat.

"[1] He cited Hit and Run as evidence of creative divisions within the band, remarking that founding members Emory and Roche "were clearly uncomfortable with this new direction and their contributions began to suffer because of it.

Torreano commented that the album's supporting tours "only emphasized the dual personalities the band had developed during this period.