The album's musical style was compared to numerous rock artists, including Billy Corgan, Chumbawamba, and the Rolling Stones.
Prior to forming the New Radicals, lead singer Gregg Alexander released two solo albums, Michigan Rain (1989) and Intoxifornication (1992).
'"[8] Alexander was motivated to write the album after spending time travelling the world and witnessing the extent of global suffering and injustice.
Are those the things we need, or are they just tools to stop us from paying attention to real problems, like the fact that teachers hardly make any money and we can't supply our schools with computers?
[16] The booklet accompanying the album featured artwork in which barcodes are visible on Alexander's shoes, face and hands, and another of him appearing on a scooter in a bleached-out white silhouette.
When asked about this in the context of the album's release on a major level, Alexander replied: "The whole thing about independent labels, after the grunge explosion, is that multi-national companies buy them up... You can try to live up to a non-existent Utopian ideal, or you can go straight to the people who you'd end up going through if your record was successful anyway.
[4] In Consequence of Sound, critic Justin Gerber commented that the album "made Gregg Alexander the 90's answer to Phil Spector, without the bad rap of murdering people".
[22] Many critics also compared Alexander's songwriting and vocal performance to those in earlier R&B: The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music compared "In Need of a Miracle" to "the blue- eyed soul side of Todd Rundgren", and likened "Mother We Just Can't Get Enough" to "Style Council's breezier moments",[23] while Spin felt "Technicolor Lover" was influenced by Prince and Paul Smith.
[24] Music critic Robert Christgau also felt that Todd Rundgren, as well as Hall & Oates, were clear influences to Alexander, also comparing the lyrics to Bob Dylan and Meat Loaf.
[27] The lyrics to the album's lead single, "You Get What You Give", drew much attention—particularly its bridge, which contained insults directed at Beck, Hanson, Courtney Love, and Marilyn Manson.
[28][29] Alexander stated in a 1998 Billboard interview that the song's lyrics are "mostly about remembering to fly high and be completely off your head in a world where we can't control all the elements.
[5] Writing for WXPN, Bruce Warren remarked that the album's lyrics, with Alexander complaining about the commercialization of Western society, media and religion, aren't clichéd because they are "insightful" and truthful.
[4] Colin Larkin's review for the Encyclopedia of Popular Music called Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too "an uplifting combination of sweeping melodies, aggressive harmonies and large dollops of stream-of-consciousness soul", likening the album to those of Chumbawamba and praising Alexander's vocal range.
[52] "Someday We'll Know" was slated as the album's second single,[22] but the group disbanded before its official release, and the song was far less successful than its predecessor, charting in several European countries.
[6][54][55] In the United States, the song failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100, although it did manage to reach the Adult Top 40, where it spent 11 weeks and peaked at number 28.