''Blast Off!'' is an album by the American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

revivalist band

Stray Cats Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in ...

, released in 1989. It marked a reunion of the band, after three years of solo endeavors; the band's previous album, 1986's ''

Rock Therapy ''Rock Therapy'' was a 1996 one-off project consisting of Queen guitarist Brian May, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, plus a number of guest vocalists including Sam Brown, Andy Fairweather Low, Paul Rodgers and Lulu. This was a 3-track char ...

'', was produced to fulfill a record contract. The album peaked at No. 111 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It peaked at No. 58 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. The first single was "Bring It Back Again". The band supported ''Blast Off!'' by touring with

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

Production

The album was produced by

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh retired singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock and New wave music, new wave, having many hit record, h ...

, who recorded it in two weeks. The band began work on the songs at

Brian Setzer Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...

's house, in the summer of 1988. "Gene and Eddie" is a tribute to

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American rock and roll musician who pioneered the style of rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is ...

and

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...

Critical reception

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' thought that the album "sounds even more half-hearted than the Stray Cats original (so to speak) take on the rockabilly revival." ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' determined that "Setzer can still play rave-up guitar with the best of them, though this album has time warp written all over it." The ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'' noted that "the humor is there; they give Mr. Spock a pompadour during a ride around the galaxy, then walk on the moon in blue suede shoes." The ''

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'' wrote that "if the way in which the Cats once played with and to nostalgia was original—in a secondhand sense—it now seems only dreary and rehashed." The ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'' stated that "Edmunds gives the Cats a new lease by rekindling the fire that dimmed after their debut album." The ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'' declared that "it rocks and that's why ''Blast Off'' is a fun rerun of the party-hearty sound that saw the Stray Cats top the charts in 1982–'83." The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' panned the album, writing that "these un-cool Cats should feel lucky they even get a second chance—especially since they show no sign of being more than a one-dimensional act." '' The Gazette'' opined that "the Stray Cats have returned to their original launching point—as a good club band with no real vision."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote: "Featuring a set of pleasant, but unexciting, songs, ''Blast Off'' indicated that the Stray Cats' revved-up rockabilly ran out of gas quickly." ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

'' concluded that "there’s a fiery venom to the galloping title track ... and then there’s way too much filler." '' MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'' called the album "unjustly ignored."

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Stray Cats 1989 albums Stray Cats albums