It was released as a double album on 14 October 1977 on Charisma Records, and was their first with touring drummer Chester Thompson and their last with guitarist Steve Hackett.

Hackett left the group to pursue a solo career while the album was being mixed, reducing Genesis to a core trio of keyboardist Tony Banks, guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford, and drummer and singer Phil Collins.

Many songs have overdubbed vocals that Phil Collins recorded in a studio prior to the album's release, including all of "The Carpet Crawlers", "Firth of Fifth", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "The Cinema Show" and parts of "Squonk", "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" and "Supper's Ready".

[1] The band recorded performances of "Inside and Out" (from the EP Spot the Pigeon), but were unable to get the song to sound as good as the studio version.

[3] Charisma Records organised an extensive promotional campaign for the album that included double page spreads in newspapers, window displays, colour posters, and commercials on national radio.

[11] Rolling Stone praised the contemporary incarnation of the band, noting they had "less reliance on theatrics" than before Peter Gabriel's departure, "and an added dollop of jazz-rock inclinations".

They considered the tracks from earlier albums to be weaker, however, finding Collins "...can't match the subtlety or expressiveness of Gabriel's singing, though he comes close.

Seconds Out was reissued with new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes completed by Nick Davis and released as part of the Genesis Live 1973–2007 box set in September 2009.

All songs written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford, except where noted.