[4] Three of the eight tracks on the album were recorded in the studio and thus differ considerably from the filmed versions.

A music video for "Language Is a Virus" was produced, using the soundtrack studio recording but footage of the live performance.

Two songs on the album were remakes of earlier works: "Language Is a Virus" was originally titled "Language is a virus from outer space - William S. Burroughs" and was performed on Anderson's earlier United States Live (the soundtrack album omits the song's spoken word introduction, "Difficult Listening Hour", which had appeared on United States Live and which was also performed in the film).

The soundtrack album omits the other live performances of songs from Mister Heartbreak that were featured in the movie.

An alternate, faster-paced version of "Smoke Rings" was recorded for release as a possible single, but there is no indication it was ever issued; it can be heard during Anderson's made-for-TV short film What You Mean We?