"Bad" was produced by the band and recorded live from the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England on 12 November 1984, as part of the Unforgettable Fire Tour.

In its review of Wide Awake In America, it said that the album's songs benefited from the transition to live performance and that "Bad" was a "show stopper.

The song was produced by Tony Visconti and recorded during a soundcheck at the concert, with the crowd noise mixed in later during post-production at Good Earth Studios.

"Love Comes Tumbling" was produced by the band and also appears, as a slightly edited version with four bars immediately preceding the vocal deleted, on the B-sides disc of The Best of 1980–1990.

Billboard policy stated that to appear on the album chart, "a disk must list for at least $5.98 and contain more than four cuts, or the equivalent in terms of minutes of music.