After building a reputation for confrontational hardcore punk, late-era Black Flag turned to a more experimental, heavy metal-inflected sound, in particular on their last two albums.

Robert Palmer, writing for The New York Times, found the music to be "intriguingly, sometimes dazzlingly fresh and sophisticated, but the band hasn't had to sacrifice an iota of the raw intensity and directness that are punk's spiritual center."

"Yet for all its sophistication," he continued, "this is jagged, abrasive rock and roll, music hard and direct enough to appeal to any punk or hard-rock fan.

Punknews found the album to be more innovative & better produced than its predecessors,[7] while John Dougan of AllMusic called it "some of the best contemporary rock music extant.

"[12] "Early Black Flag releases like Nervous Breakdown, Damaged, and My War spawned tons of imitators," wrote BrooklynVegan, "and there's no way to overstate how influential they are, but In My Head has something else going for it.