The album's cover artwork is a photo of a dog named Sidney, originally published in the August 2009 issue of National Geographic.

A YouTube post titled "Let's Write A Sawng: Step 16," uploaded on November 15, 2008, showed frontman Rivers Cuomo in the studio with producer Jacknife Lee short-listing[when defined as?]

On July 24, Weezer played three new songs in Korea at the Jisan Valley Rock Festival: "Can't Stop Partying", "I'm Your Daddy", and "The Girl Got Hot".

While performing "The Girl Got Hot" on July 26, 2009, at the Fuji Rock Festival, Cuomo revealed that Weezer's seventh studio album would be released in October 2009.

"Can't Stop Partying" was co-written with hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri, and features rapper Lil Wayne.

[19] A positive review came from Matt Collar of AllMusic, who wrote that "Musically, Raditude really sounds like vintage Weezer, but never in a pandering, played-out way", praising "I'm Your Daddy" and "The Girl Got Hot" for being "as sparkling with creative enthusiasm as anything the band has done since 'Buddy Holly'.

"[20] "Songs about going to meet your girlfriend's parents or how the ugly duckling in junior high school suddenly turned into a double-take ice queen, are an odd thing for men pushing 40 to sing about.

[30] Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork criticized Cuomo's lyrics for seemingly being "stuck in an eternal puberty, forever 13—confused, horny, hyperbolic, obsessed with brand names", and concluded that "the record's teen-boy empowerment message doesn't have much to offer anyone over 13 years old".

[1] Spencer Kornhaber of Spin wrote that the album "might be enjoyed for what it is—extremely catchy, fist-pumping pop—and for what it represents: escapism", but felt that "the second half sags, the ballads bore, and weirdly, it's too short".

[28] Huw Jones of Slant Magazine panned the album as "a thematically vacant and sonically uninspired collection of ditties tailor-made for mainstream radio" that contains "an abhorrent cocktail of deluded lyricism and indolent musicianship.

"[31] Evan Sawdey of PopMatters felt that Raditude should be judged for being "a collection of straight-faced, irony-free pop songs written by a guy who knows his way around a hook", concluding, "As a Weezer album, it is nothing short of a profound disappointment.

Sugar Ray previously recorded the track "Love Is the Answer" on their 2009 album Music for Cougars with a guest appearance by Cuomo.