| Last Splash | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | the Breeders |
| Cover: | TheBreedersLastSplash.jpg |
| Released: | August 30, 1993 |
| Recorded: | 1990–93 |
| Length: | 39:38 |
| Label: | 4AD/Elektra Records |
| Prev Title: | Safari |
| Prev Year: | 1992 |
| Next Title: | Head to Toe |
| Next Year: | 1994 |
Last Splash is the second album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released on August 30, 1993. Originally formed as a side project for Pixies bassist Kim Deal, the Breeders quickly became her primary recording outlet. Last Splash peaked at number 33 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and by June 1994, the album had been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments in excess of one million units.
The title of the album is taken from a lyric from its lead single, "Cannonball". The video for "Cannonball" was directed by Spike Jonze and Kim Gordon, and the video for the album's second single "Divine Hammer" was directed by Jonze, Gordon and Richard Kern.
A looped guitar sample of "S.O.S." was used by the English electronic music band the Prodigy in their 1996 hit single "Firestarter". A sample from "I Just Wanna Get Along" was used in another track by the Prodigy called "World's on Fire" from the Invaders Must Die album.
In 2003, Pitchfork listed the album at number 64 on their list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1990s.[1] In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 293 in their revised list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (after not including it in the original 2003 list or the 2012 revision).[2]
On May 13, 2013, 4AD released LSXX, a deluxe 20th anniversary version of the album,[3] and on September 22, 2023, 4AD released Last Splash (30th Anniversary Original Analog Edition),[4] with additional tracks "Go Man Go" and "Divine Mascis".
Last Splash has been seen as one of alternative rock's "most enduring masterpieces", as well as indie rock,[5] noise pop and "effervescent" pop rock.
It is also considered "wildly", "willingly" experimental,[1] [6] sporting art rock textures, "pure", "twisted" pop, and Hawaiian surf music.[7] The latter genre is seen in the "tiki bar twang" of "No Aloha" and the "gonzo" surf rock of instrumental "Flipside".[8] [9] "I Just Wanna Get Along" takes on "spiky" pop-punk, while cover "Drivin' on 9" pulls in acoustic and country sounds.[9]
Last Splash is regarded as one of the most iconic albums in early '90s alternative rock. Dubbed one of its "most enduring masterpieces", it's been praised for "perfectly encapsulat[ing] all that was great and wonderful" about the genre's explosion in that era.[10] Nashville Scenes Sean L. Maloney saw Splash both "[distill] the zeitgeist into perfect alt-pop nuggets", but also serve as "the last gasp of alternative music as an actual alternative to the mainstream".[11] The Quietus Emily Mackay considered it "a key album" for the genre's mainstream crossover.
In a retrospective review of it 20 years on, Stereogums Tom Breihan called it "a warm, homemade, deeply and consciously odd" record.
There are two versions of LSXX: a 3-CD package and a 7-disc vinyl set.[12] The CD and vinyl formats have the same track listings.
The vinyl set contains the following vinyl:
The track listing below is for the 3-CD set. All songs are by Kim Deal except where noted.
Disc 1 – Last Splash
The first disc contains the original release track listing.
The Breeders
Artwork
Additional musicians
Production
| Chart (1993) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Albums Chart[13] | 22 | |
| Canadian Albums Chart[14] | 44 | |
| Dutch Top 100[15] | 41 | |
| German Albums Chart[16] | 68 | |
| Swedish Albums Chart[17] | 43 | |
| UK Albums Chart[18] | 5 | |
| US Billboard 200[19] | 33 | |
| Chart (1994) | Peak position | |
| New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart[20] | 11 |
| Year | Single | Peak positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Main | US Main Rock | US Mod Rock | AUS [21] | FR [22] | NLD | UK | |||
| 1993 | "Cannonball" | 44 | 32 | 2 | 58 | 8 | 35 | 40 | |
| "Divine Hammer" | — | — | 28 | — | — | — | 59 | ||
| 1994 | "Saints" | — | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||