[4] As a result of Howe's focus on obtaining a radio-friendly sound, the Association ceded much of the instrumental playing on Insight Out to a team of top L.A. session musicians, including drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Joe Osborn, keyboardist Larry Knechtel, guitarist Al Casey, and guitarist/sitarist Mike Deasy.

[4][1] The latter song in particular was an ambitious and somber piece written by multi-instrumentalist Terry Kirkman, featuring layered Latin vocals[4] and anti-war lyrics, which use the story of a matador dying alone in the bullring, miles away from his home, as an analogy for the plight of U.S. soldiers serving in the Vietnam War.

[7] Insight Out was released in the U.S. on June 8, 1967,[2] reaching number 8 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 1967.

[8] Music critic Matthew Weiner, writing for Stylus magazine, has described Insight Out and its follow-up Birthday as "minor classics in the late-sixties pop genre",[9] while Unterberger viewed the album, within the context of the Association's back catalogue, as "characteristically eclectic".

[1] Insight Out has been reissued a number of times on CD, including a remastered edition of the album in its standard stereo configuration on Collectors' Choice Music in 2003 and as a Japanese release on Warner Bros. in 2005, with the addition of two bonus tracks.