By the time that the album was released, drummer Karl Burns had left the band and guitarist Martin Bramah also quit shortly afterward to form Blue Orchids, leaving Mark E. Smith as the sole remaining founding member.

In conjunction with Voiceprint, Cog Sinister reissued the album in 2002 as Live at the Witch Trials +, which was claimed to have been remastered but was, in fact, simply a clone of the I.R.S.

The album was reissued on vinyl in 2016 on the Superior Viaduct label,[6] and again in 2019 by Cherry Red Records as part of its Fall Sound Archive series.

Record Mirror's Chris Westwood described the album as "a rugged, concerned, attuned, rebellious jukebox",[13] while Sounds reviewer Dave McCullough called it "an album of staggeringly rich, mature music, inner questioning hand in hand with rock and roll at its fiercest, its finest, its most honest, rock and roll at its naked, most stimulating prime.

"[5] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice said he initially found it "too tuneless and crude", but later "played it in tandem with Public Image Ltd. one night and for a few bars could hardly tell the difference", concluding that "in this icky pop moment we could use some ugly rebellion.

"[17] Allan Jones of Melody Maker was less impressed, being especially negative about the group's then-rhythm section of Marc Riley and Karl Burns.

[20] Pitchfork's Jason Heller stated that the album established the Fall as a musically "far more wobbly and toxic" band than their post-punk contemporaries.

[6] AllMusic critic Ned Raggett wrote: "That the first Fall album... would not only not sound very punk at all but would be a downright pleasant listen seems perfectly in keeping with Mark E. Smith's endlessly contrary mind.