Due to the nature of some of the lyrics (particularly "Big Dumb Sex"), a Parental Advisory sticker was placed on the album packaging.

The album's recording sessions took place from December 1988 to January 1989 at London Bridge Studios in Seattle, Washington.

The album was mixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero at both Mediasound, New York, and House of Music, West Orange, New Jersey.

Regarding the sessions, frontman Chris Cornell said, "At the time Hiro [Yamamoto] had excommunicated himself from the band and there wasn't a free-flowing system as far as music went, so I ended up writing a lot of it.

[6] Steve Huey of AllMusic said that Soundgarden took "a step toward the metal mainstream" with "a slow, grinding, detuned mountain of Sabbath/Zeppelin riffs and Chris Cornell wailing".

In the late 1990s, an urban legend circulated on internet message boards which stated that Yamamoto, after writing the music, wrote some lyrics on the back side of McDonald's note.

However, the song "Big Dumb Sex" was written as a parody of glam metal bands, who often metaphorically addressed sexual intercourse in their lyrics.

[23] Because of some of the song lyrics, most notably on "Hands All Over" (the "kill your mother" line) and "Big Dumb Sex", the band faced various retail and distribution problems upon the album's release.

Rolling Stone staff writer J. D. Considine wrote that "Chris Cornell has the sort of soaring, muscular voice Ian Astbury can only dream of, while guitarist Kim Thayil comes across like The Edge with an attitude".

He stated that "the songs on Louder Than Love are mean, lean and fighting fit", but he criticized Cornell's lyrics, observing that "much of what the band has to say is clichéd, confused or generally incomprehensible".

He ended his review by saying that "even when his lyrics are as dumb as rocks ... Cornell delivers them with such full-throated intensity that they actually sound impressive.

"[9] Critic Robert Christgau gave the album a negative review, stating that it is "covertly conceptual, arty in spite of itself, and I bet metal fans don't bite".

[14] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff considered Louder Than Love "a limiting, slightly safe record despite daunting rhythmic explorations, one that plays too close to the vest, too tight and faithful to external perceptions of what the band should be and too damn slow!

[27] Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed that he was inspired to write the riff to "Enter Sandman" after listening to Louder Than Love.

[34] The album's cover art, photographed by Charles Peterson, features a black and white picture of Cornell.

[36] The album's graphic designer, Art Chantry said about the title on the 2009 book Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music: They didn't have a name for the record.

Bassist Jason Everman was fired immediately after Soundgarden completed its promotional tour for Louder Than Love in mid-1990.

A Cameron penned instrumental entitled "Twin Tower" was recorded during the sessions, but not released until it appeared on Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across the Path.