"Against the Grain" was released shortly after the conclusion of the "No Control" tour which had lasted until the middle of 1990. The album was highly anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band's success with their 1988 post-reunion album "Suffer" and its 1989 follow-up "No Control". While "Against the Grain" still failed to break Bad Religion into mainstream audiences, it was the first 100,000 seller, and showed how quickly they were growing. By 1992, the album had sold approximately 90,000 copies.