Slam (Big Dipper album)

Last updated
Slam
Big Dipper Slam.jpg
Studio album by Big Dipper
Released 1990
Genre Alternative rock, indie rock, jangle pop
Label Epic
Producer Steve Haigler and Big Dipper
Big Dipper chronology
Craps
(1988)
Slam
(1990)
Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology
(2008)

Slam is the third and final studio album from Boston indie rock band Big Dipper. The album was released in May 1990 on Epic Records, making it the group's major-label debut. [1] It was their sole release on Epic, as they were dropped from the label a year later.

Indie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock. As grunge and punk revival bands in the US and Britpop bands in the UK broke into the mainstream in the 1990s, it came to be used to identify those acts that retained an outsider and underground perspective. In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the music industry and the growing importance of the Internet, some indie rock acts began to enjoy commercial success, leading to questions about its meaningfulness as a term.

Big Dipper are an American indie rock band who formed in Boston in 1985 by former members of Volcano Suns and the Embarrassment. They released four studio albums between 1987 and 1990, before splitting up. The band reunited in 2008. They were described in a New York Times article as "musical contortionists: they love to toy with extremes, juxtaposing ferocious guitar noise with celestial vocal harmonies or planting a delicate melody in jagged rhythm".

Epic Records American record label

Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc., the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953, but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres, including pop, R&B, rock, and hip hop. Epic has released music by artists including Glenn Miller, Tammy Wynette, George Michael, Shakin Stevens, Europe, Cheap Trick, Meat Loaf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ted Nugent, Shakira, Sly & the Family Stone, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, ABBA, Anastacia, Boston, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Michael Jackson. Along with Arista, Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainment's four flagship record labels.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Village Voice C+ [3]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Love Barge"3:36
2."The Bond"2:14
3."Another Life"2:08
4."Slam"2:53
5."Bony Knees of Nothing"3:32
6."Baby Blue"3:45
7."Picnic"2:26
8."The Monsters of Jazz"2:43
9."Impossible Things"3:01
10."Blood Pact"2:13
11."Father's Day"2:38
12."Baby Doll"3:55
13."A Life Inside the Cemetery"4:09
14."All the Way From Memphis" (Originally recorded by Mott the Hoople)3:28

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References

  1. Schoemer, Karen (1990-04-13). "Big Dipper Combines Punk With Melody". The New York Times . Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  2. Raggett, Ned. "Slam - Big Dipper". AllMusic . Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  3. Christgau, Robert (1990-12-04). "Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice . Retrieved 2018-08-17.