The front photo was taken by Moshe Brakha and the back cover, which would become the band's logo, was designed by Arturo Vega.

The album peaked at 148 on the Billboard 200 despite its critical acclaim as well as the band members expecting more commercial success.

Guitarist Johnny Ramone relates: "We recorded them in the order they were written; we wanted to show a slight progression in song structure.

[5] Joey Ramone later recalled: I wrote most of the stuff I contributed at my apartment in Forest Hills before I left and moved back to a place in the city.

Sire set their budget at about $10,000, hiring Tony Bongiovi to produce the album, and Tommy Ramone (credited as T. Erdelyi) to co-produce.

[7][8] With a more fine-tuned and exceptional sound, Leave Home also presented a production value superior to other punk rock bands at the time.

The single was given four out of five stars by AllMusic's Matt Whalley, who said that the song "could have been one of the Ramones' most popular tracks if it was not pulled from the album for legal reasons.

"[16] Whalley called the B-side "I Can't Be" "simple", describing it as "in the same vein as 'Carbona Not Glue,' only shifting focus to relationships.

"[16] After the album came out in February, the band began a four-week tour of the United States starting with Los Angeles.

A week after this, the band played with Blue Öyster Cult again in Poughkeepsie, to which Johnny relates: "Those arena shows were a little better for us, although we would have more bad experiences in those big places.

"[22] The next song, "I Remember You" was said by author Greil Marcus to be all about the moment where "Joey's voice turns the single word "you" into pure poetry.

[21][26] "Suzy Is a Headbanger" was inspired by the 1947 film noir Nightmare Alley, with the lyrics detailing a female involved in the punk rock scene.

Joey's brother Mickey Leigh said that it was specifically taken from the scene where "the midget groom does a dance on the banquet table and sings 'Gobble gobble, we accept you, one of us' to his bride."

[13] The album's only cover song, "California Sun", was written by Henry Glover and Morris Levy, and originally recorded by The Rivieras.

While the lyrics and musical structure remain the same throughout the piece, Joey's pronunciation upon words significantly lessened the similarity to the original song.

Author Steve Waksman relates: "From the opening bars, 'California Sun' becomes subject to the Ramones' distinctive brand of musical minimalism paired with sonic excess.

Author Avram Mednick said the song was a successor to "Blitzkrieg Bop", released on the band's debut album.

"[21] "You're Gonna Kill that Girl", which was written very early in the band's career, was also rooted in doo-wop genre.

The Ramones make rousing music and damn good jokes, but they're in a bind: the hard rock of this group is so pure it may be perceived as a freak novelty by an awful lot of people.

"[45] The Los Angeles Times deemed the songs of Leave Home "two-minute metal operettas for the Blank Generation.

Though he did consider it to be slightly more pop music oriented, Erlewine writes that despite being "weaker" than its preceding album, Leave Home "deliver[s] at breakneck speed and conclude[s] in under a half-hour."

April Long from NME especially favored "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker", calling it "a punk-surf-pop crossover that has never been rivalled.

During his extensive review, he called "I Remember You" a "perfect bubblegum pop song", while saying that "Pinhead" urges "all the freaks of the world to unite as one" with the lines "D-U-M-B / Everyone's accusing me.

[15] Many of the songs on Leave Home were not considered by Mickey Leigh to be "radio–friendly" because "Carbona Not Glue" was about Intoxicative inhalant.