Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has blamed the record's lack of success on the fact that it was released under the "Megadeth" moniker: "if anybody else's name was on 'Risk', it would have sold". The album debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified gold in 1999 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping half million copies in the United States. As with the rest of Megadeth's studio records released by Capitol, the album was remixed and remastered in 2004, with several bonus tracks added. This reissue also featured a different cover.
Risk followed the band's 1997 release Cryptic Writings, which according to Nielsen Soundscan, had sold 850,000 copies and won widespread praise from rock radio programmers. Referring to the upcoming record, Rob Gordon, a VP of marketing at Capitol Records, stated that "before the last record, we'd maybe had one track at rock radio, and it would be over. With this record, like the last one, I think we'll have four-plus again."
The title stems from a comment by Dave Mustaine's former Metallica bandmate Lars Ulrich, who suggested to Mustaine that he should take more "risks" with his music. According to Mustaine, he was also encouraged to experiment by Marty Friedman’s desire to indulge in his pop sensibilities. On the other hand, newcomer Jimmy DeGrasso wanted to do a "heavy record", unlike the rest of the band who wanted to try out something different. As bassist David Ellefson recalls, the band's manager Bud Prager had told them that they needed "to do something that will make all of their contemporaries knock themselves on the head and say, 'Why didn't we think of that'?". This decision resulted in mixed reviews for both the band and the album; a good portion did not favor the new sound and image, while others were more receptive to the band's attempts at experimenting with their sound and trying something different.
Megadeth chose to produce the album once again with Dann Huff in Nashville, satisfied with the success of their previous record. The band started writing the songs right after finishing the tour in support of Cryptic Writings. It took them five to six weeks to write the songs, and they went to Nashville in January 1999 to record the album. The recording process lasted four months, and according to Ellefson, it was a "long haul". The original American pressing of the album was released as an enhanced CD, and featured a brief documentary about the making of the album as bonus content. Several European editions of the album contained a "No Risk Disk" as a bonus item, featuring one song from each of Megadeth's previous six major label albums. Lastly, the Japanese version of the album includes a bonus track, which is the theme from Duke Nukem. In 2004, a remixed and remastered version of the album was released, featuring three bonus tracks, all different mixes of songs on the album. The cover for the remaster was noticeably different from the original, featuring a scene from the music video for "Insomnia". In addition, a couple of tracks have slightly different song durations—some shorter, some longer—with the most noticeable one being "I'll Be There," which features an additional 53 seconds.
Enhanced multimedia section includes a video of the making of the album titled "The Making of Risk".
"Risk" received a highly negative reaction from the fans, and Megadeth have very rarely played any songs from it live.
Early copies of "Risk" came with a free bonus "Extra Value" disc containing sample tracks from various alternative and nu metal bands who were starting to rise in their respective careers (Dope, Type O Negative, Biohazard, System of a Down, Drain STH, etc.)
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