Spacemen 3's eagerly awaited "Playing with Fire" album was finally released on 27 February 1989. The album's front cover sleeve bore the slogan, "Purity, Love, Suicide, Accuracy, Revolution". "Playing with Fire" was Spacemen 3's first record to chart and one of the breakthrough indie albums of the year. Within weeks of its release, it was No. 1 in both the "NME" and "Melody Maker" indie charts. It was "their most critically and commercially successful album" (Stephen Erlewine, "AllMusic"). Reviews were extremely positive and the album garnered wide critical acclaim: