The song was written by and features the lead vocals of Glen Burtnik, who had been recruited by the band to take the place of Tommy Shaw. Shaw was at that time busy as a member of the group Damn Yankees.

Burtnik had recorded the track before he was offered a position with Styx in anticipation of using it for his third solo album. During recording sessions as Styx, the original track's backing vocals and drums were re-recorded. Burtnik's original version was later released on his compilation album Retrospectable.

The song also appeared on the B-side of the 7" single release of "Carrie Ann" (A&M Records – 390 610-7) which had been only released in Europe.

"Love Is the Ritual" was a disappointment commercially. It peaked at only #80 on the Billboard Top 100 Singles chart. However, it fared better on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, where it attained #9. It also reached #59 on the Canada RPM Top Singles chart the week of November 24th, 1990.

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