It has received mostly positive reviews, with Mark Deming of AllMusic rating the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and stating that it "makes sense that John Belushi was a big fan of Fear, because The Record sounds like the punk equivalent of the movie Animal House -- puerile, offensive, and often reveling in its own ignorance, but pretty entertaining on a non-think level while it lasts".

[2] He also stated that Fear had a "fairly unique perspective -- they seemingly embraced punk as an efficient way to piss off everyone around them, and there's no arguing that they achieved their goals with flying colors on their first and best album, The Record".

[5][6] Vocalist/rhythm guitarist Lee Ving was interviewed about the original album's recording in Dave Grohl's 2013 documentary film Sound City.

All tracks are written by Lee Ving, except where notedIn June 2012, a new lineup of Fear re-recorded The Record in its entirety.

Jason Lymangrover of AllMusic rated it 2.5 out of 5 stars and stated: "The reason why this was made is a complete mystery.