The album was a departure from Nelson's previous rockabilly records and an experiment in a more contemporary orchestral style.[2] Like Nelson's prior album Another Side of Rick, it was produced by John Boylan.[3] Boylan selected a number of contemporary songs for the album, including four by Randy Newman, who was not yet a well known songwriter.[4] He also contributed two of his own songs, while Nelson's wife Kris performed vocals on "Hello to the Wind" (a joint Boylan/Nelson composition) and supplied album artwork.[4] The album was recorded in California in 1968, Nelson's only recording that year. It was not released until nearly a year later.[4]
Neither of the two Boylan-produced albums were a commercial success.[4] Although Nelson grew to dislike Perspective's overproduced style, he credits the album with clarifying his future musical direction. "Perspective with those songs was a complete experiment and those Steve Miller type sound effects between tracks were my idea.... I'm not sorry I did those things because, if anything, it made up my mind as to the way I wanted to go... I just simplified the whole thing and went back to the formula of drums, bass, and guitar. That's where I'd always been most effective."[3]
Richie Unterberger of AllMusic said that "Nelson did have good taste in selecting material, covering songs by Paul Simon, Richie Havens, Harry Nilsson, and Randy Newman, all of whom (except Simon) were little known by most of the public in 1967; indeed, Nelson covers five Newman songs in a row to end the album, creating the effect of an aborted "Nelson Sings Newman" concept record.[5]
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