The album did not chart as well as their previous album Living Years (1988), charting at No. 11 in the UK, while the lead single "Word of Mouth" got to No. 13 in the UK and No. 33 in Australia. The follow-up singles "A Time and a Place" and "Everybody Gets a Second Chance" both became minor hits in the UK, peaking at No. 58 and No. 56, respectively.[1]
There was some overlap with the marketing of the album and the making of Genesis's We Can't Dance, with Mike Rutherford being committed to both. As such, there was no tour for Word of Mouth.
The song "Get Up" was used in the 1993 film Rookie of the Year, as well as in the Baywatch episode "Nightmare Bay: Parts 1 & 2".
AllMusic suggested that the album was inferior to its predecessors, writing, "The new record led off with two killer pop songs...But within a few months of its release, Word of Mouth had already been banished to the discount racks and budget bins of nearly every record store in the English-speaking world."[2]