This album was a cautious attempt to crack the lucrative American market with more accessible songcraft and emphasis on hooks and melodies.

[5] Hoffmann recalls Dieter Dierks as a very demanding producer: "We would do some pieces several dozen times trying to capture what he had in his mind for a specific section," adding: "Each song we tried different combinations of guitars, mic'ing and even strings!

"[5] The song "Metal Heart" is well known for containing the cover of two famous classical themes: Tchaikovsky's "Slavonic March" (in the intro) and Beethoven's "Für Elise" in the main riff and solo.

This song was covered in 1998 by Norwegian black metal band Dimmu Borgir for their album Godless Savage Garden.

[5] "Midnight Mover", about a drug dealer, is one of the more commercial songs on the album and was selected for a memorable music video that anticipates the bullet time filming technique by a full decade.

[5] Despite the more commercially appealing sound of the album, it fell short of the sales figures of its predecessor Balls to the Wall in America.