Despite the tensions that had marred their dissolution in 1985, the Go-Go's gradually began to reassemble; songwriter and keyboardist Charlotte Caffey wrote for and performed on most of singer Belinda Carlisle's solo albums.

The compilation included rehearsal, demo, and live recordings that had never been previously released, the original Stiff Records version of the band's first single, "We Got the Beat," as well as the group's major hits, B-sides, and deeper tracks culled from the studio sessions that generated the Go-Go's' first three LPs.

[4] One of these new songs, "The Whole World Lost Its Head," gave the band its first top 40 hit in Britain.

[3] Writing for Rolling Stone, critic Paul Corio wrote that the compilation "offers trippy joy in abundance.

"[4] In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Ned Raggett ranked Return to the Valley of the Go-Go's, compared to other best-of compilations of the band, as "the clearest winner, by a long shot.