In the weeks before the release of their third album, Say Anything released several songs from the album on MySpace. They also announced pre-ordered copies could be ordered with a signed CD booklet. The band released their first single from the new album, "Baby Girl, I'm a Blur", on October 2, 2007. "In Defense of the Genre" was released on October 23, 2007. It was released in a dual-disc format complete with 27 songs and contained many guest vocals. When asked about the name of the record, Bemis said, "Whatever 'genre' (or music) one loves needs a defense, because half the world is too ignorant to really understand something before they dismiss it." Before recording the record, Bemis stated, "I hope that ["In Defense"] will be more inspiring and uplifting. I want record to be "The Joshua Tree" with balls on laughing gas."