''Slam'' is the third and final studio album by the Boston

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Big Dipper The Big Dipper (American English, US, Canadian English, Canada) or the Plough (British English, UK, Hiberno-English, Ireland) is an asterism (astronomy), asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them ar ...

. The album was released in 1990 on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

, making it the group's major-label debut. The band supported the album with a North American tour. They were dropped from the label a year later.

Production

Recorded in North Carolina, the album was coproduced by Steve Haigler. Many of its songs are about the music business. The band used samples, horns, and synthesizers on some of the songs.

Critical reception

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 ...

'' wrote that "the band in fine form, still writing terse, insanely catchy, oft sly and oblique pop songs." '' The Republican'' noted that the album "contains some sparkling melodies, solid lyrics and interesting, guitar-based arrangements." ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'' opined that "the musicians construct uncompromisingly tuneful pop-rock tunes while disassembling lyrical conventions."

Track listing

References

{{Authority control Big Dipper (band) albums 1990 albums Epic Records albums