[2][1] Bob Hoag offered to remix any of the material, but the label refused and decided that it wanted to hire Karl Richardson of Saturday Night Fever-era Beegees fame, in Miami.

[2][1] Eventually, when it came time to master the record, it was sent to Jason Livermore, one of Bob Hoag's close acquaintances, at the Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Aezra only wanted ten songs to be on the record, so the band met them halfway and included 15 tracks on the album.

[2] In addition, Jared Woosley of Fivespeed, Dan Hargest of Pollen, Alex Eilers, and McKane Davis, contributed to the vocals.

While this album gained many comparisons to Jimmy Eat World, a contemporary critical success that also hailed from Mesa, Arizona, Jeff Marsh of Adequacy.net contends that "Before Braille has their own sound" and calls The Rumor "a pretty impressive debut.

'"[7] He continued, however, to note that even "if emo goes out of style, Before Braille will likely still be rocking shows long after most of the Chris Carraba wannabes have left the building.

In 2003, the Association for Independent Music nominated Before Braille for an Indie Award in the Alternative Rock category for its work on The Rumor.