[2] Cetera's marriage to second wife, Diane Nini had ended, causing the once busy songwriter to step away from the music scene.

Between 1988 and 1992, his only musical activities were an appearance as a guest vocalist on Cher's 1989 single, "After All", a song on the soundtrack to the movie Chances Are, "No Explanation" for the soundtrack to the movie Pretty Woman, and a vocal contribution to David Foster's "Voices That Care" production, based on music that he and Cetera had written together years earlier.

Deeply depressed, Cetera found himself using the album as an outlet to deal with his marriage ending and learning to be a single parent.

Recording began in London, England and occurred in short, spread out bursts as Cetera worked through the personal issues in his life.

Dance, rap and alternative rock songs had begun dominating top forty radio, resulting in a decline in pop music that had been popular only a few years earlier.

Many of Cetera's contemporaries, including his former band-mates in Chicago, found their singles struggling to get airplay and generate album sales.

[9][3] In 2010, a Heineken light beer commercial, "Lady Music", featured the album cover and the song "Restless Heart".