Unlike the group's previous album, The Correct Use of Soap, the writing credits for Magic, Murder and the Weather were not shared equally.

Quite a lot of the music was written by keyboardist Dave Formula and only the first three songs of side two of the LP were credited to all five members.

The classic lineup of the band had ended when guitarist and founding member John McGeoch had departed in mid-1980 to join Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Upon its release, Smash Hits reviewer Geoffrey Deane gave the album a 7 out of 10 rating, calling it "Not their best work, but a suitable epitaph never the less.

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the album "finds Dave Formula's washes of cold, brittle keyboards dominating the bitter and cynical music.

The vibrancy found on The Correct Use of Soap has all but ebbed away and much of the record is bogged down by leaden, uninspired sounds that would have been unimaginable on earlier releases.

Due to Devoto's departure and Magazine's subsequent disbanding, the album was never showcased live until the band reformed.