to RCA for 1994's A Date with the Smithereens. Critical reviews Dubois Daniels, writing for OffBeat magazine, wrote that the Smithereens "retain their combination of pop vocal melodies over big crunchy guitars, but add keyboards and strings on most of the cuts." He felt that the album is much softer than their previous albums, and that the band "seems to have traded some of their edge for a more pop sound ... but the pop sound has not taken over completely." Rolling Stone'''s Wayne King wrote, "For those who'd shrug [the Smithereens] off as hopelessly retro, the group makes moves like inviting the Cowsills to sing backup on one song from Blow Up, a gesture either so warped it's cool or just plain pathetic. ... But to dismiss the Smithereens as mere revivalists would be wrong." King felt that, compared to the band's previous album, 11, where producer Ed Stasium "enlarged the group's sound", the band and their producer have made a more versatile and fluid album with Blow Up. He noted that Pat DiNizio "still examines romance as the distance sets in; almost every song deals with loss, resignation, regret." Among retrospective reviews, Jason Damas of AllMusic said that the Smithereens never released a bad album, and that Blow Up is "in fact a quite good one." He described it as a collection of "catchy, blue-collar power pop distinguished by DiNizio's often moody outlook." Ira Robbins of Trouser Press wrote that the album gets off to a good start with "Top of the Pops" and "Too Much Passion," but then runs out of gas during the third track. Robbins felt that the material was "tired" and "unimproved by restrained playing and arrangements that cover the band's assets in guest keyboards, vocals, strings and saxophone." Album cover and title Blow Up's cover design is by movie poster/title sequence artist Saul Bass (Vertigo, West Side Story, North by Northwest, Psycho). Being dedicated film fans, the Smithereens managed to convince Bass that Blow Up should be his first album cover work. The album is named after Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 art house film Blowup''. Track listing Personnel The Smithereens Pat DiNizio – vocals, guitar, harmonica Jim Babjak – guitar, vocals Dennis Diken – drums, percussion, vocals Mike Mesaros – bass, vocals Additional musicians Kenny Margolis – Hammond organ, piano, keyboards Michael Hamilton – additional guitar, keyboards, Mellotron Ed Stasium – percussion, backing vocals