During the peak of their popularity in the mid and late 1990s, MLTR was described by critics as being "as good (if not better) a band as any current big name group out of America or the UK or the Australia.

"[4] According to the band's record label releases, their sound is "the perfect balance of a Scandinavian glow and the international pop song that has been instrumental in forming the compelling sound of the band",[5] although the lead singer and songwriter, Jascha Richter, disagrees with this, maintaining that the music defies geographical categorization.

On 15 March 1988, their first night of practice made them realize they needed a fourth musician, so they asked Søren Madsen, another guitarist who was into Led Zeppelin, to join in on bass guitar.

The disappointment was offset by a daily newspaper, Information, describing the unknown group as "an immensely positive surprise".

[8] Although not making any headway as intended in America despite airplay for "My Blue Angel", a later single (the second in Denmark after "I Still Carry On") from the album, "The Actor", topped the Danish chart and also did well in Norway, Sweden, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

[6] In January 1992, the album topped the Danish charts, followed soon after by success in Asia, selling 25,000 copies and earning gold status in Indonesia alone.

The release of this album also increased the band's presence in hitherto untapped markets like Brazil, South Africa, the UAE and eleven countries in the Far East, including Japan.

[6] The song, "Paint My Love", is an English version of "Kun med dig" by Danish singers Dorthe Andersen and Martin Loft, which was composed by Jascha Richter.

This album included their previous hits, either remixed or refined in some way by notable international producers such as Chris Lord-Alge (for "Someday", "Something You Should Know" etc.

The single "Take Me to Your Heart" was a remake of Jacky Cheung's "Goodbye Kiss" ("吻别"), and was popular in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan.

[4] Later in the year, MLTR released The Best of Michael Learns to Rock Live and in July toured Hong-Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia.

[21] The following year, another track, "It's Gonna Make Sense", gained popularity in Asia after it was played as the farewell song on the Philippine reality TV show Pinoy Big Brother.

[22] Michael Learns to Rock completed touring their home-country Denmark, having played unplugged concerts in February and March 2010 with fair success.

Over the latter part of 2010 and throughout 2011, Michael Learns to Rock began giving feelers about their next studio album on their official Facebook page.

[27] On 19 November 2011, the band unveiled the song "Any Way You Want It" from the forthcoming album at a live concert in Kathmandu produced and organized by ODC Network (P)LTD.

The video of the song was then released formally on 11 June 2012 by the band on YouTube first, and soon after, it started airing on TV in India and Nepal.

The music video features different places of Kathmandu valley and the capital city of Nepal, where the band performed a concert in November 2011.

In late January 2018, the band organized a competition over their social media platforms for the title of their upcoming album.

As of September 2010, Michael Learns to Rock have played over 450 shows,[32] including both large and small open-air & closed-hall stage concerts, TV appearances, unplugged and sing-back gigs, over a period of 22 years.

In total, MLTR have played in at least 21 countries and territories which include Denmark, Nepal, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Africa, Switzerland, Bangladesh, UAE, Faroe Islands, Vietnam, Cambodia, Norway, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and Sweden.

[32] They have also traveled to Hollywood for recording part of their debut album, to Spain, Finland and Germany to attend interviews, and to the UK to shoot a video.

[33] Michael Learns to Rock were also the first international act to have performed in Cambodia when they played a show (that was also televised live) in front of 700 fans in CTN's Studio One in Phnom Penh in October 2005.

[35] In various interviews, the band members have admitted that touring and the response from fans to their concerts, among other reasons, keep them together, in spite of the stresses associated with traveling.

[42] On 13 December 2015, MLTR performed live for the first time in North East India's prehistoric ancient city of Guwahati (earlier known as Pragjyotishpur) in Assam in front of a 75,000 strong audience at the huge Sarusajai Stadium, in company of multiple award-winning popular Assamese-Indian singer-composer Jim Ankan Deka.

[43] On 31 August 2017, MLTR's first stop in their Eternal Asia Tour was staged at the Kia Theatre in Manila to a sold-out crowd.

[44] In October 2022, the band played in the cities of Manila, Cebu, and Davao as part of their Back on The Road Tour 2022 in the Philippines.

[45] On 18 July 2024, it was announced that MLTR will be holding the Asia Tour 2024 where the band will be performing in multiple countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam throughout November 2024.

The essence of this style followed invariably by MLTR is evident from Jascha Richter's dead-pan response to a query in an interview as to what constituted the elements of a good song: "You got to have a chorus and a verse".

Many songs also contain instrumental solos, more commonly, guitar (e.g. "Someday", "That's Why (You Go Away)", "How Many Hours", "The Actor", "Something You Should Know", "Breaking My Heart", "Watch Your Back" etc.)

"[48] Michael Learns to Rock have cited their influences to be Supertramp, Elton John, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder,[35] Billy Joel, ABBA,[2] Bee Gees and "all the bands that write good lyrics"[51] (as Mikkel Lentz puts it tongue-in-cheek).