Spacemen 3 were keen to be freed from their recording contract with Glass Records who were in financial difficulty and owed them royalties. Although they had produced the requisite two albums, there was still a year remaining on their contract. A deal was reached whereby, in return for providing a live album, their contractual obligations would be deemed to have been met and they would be allowed to leave. Accordingly, "Performance" was released in July 1988. This seven-track live album was a recording of their gig at the Melkweg venue, Amsterdam, on 6 February 1988. (Three previously unreleased songs were excluded.)