Get The Knack - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

Get the Knack was released in June 1979 and became an immediate success, thanks in part to an intense promotional campaign by Capitol Records. The Knack's image was largely influenced by the Beatles. The album cover imitates their first Capitol LP Meet the Beatles and the back cover photo depicts a scene from The Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night. To complete the Beatle imagery, the 1960s Capitol rainbow label adorned the LP, a detail the band had written into its contract. The album went Gold in just 13 days, becoming Capitol Records' fastest selling debut LP since Meet the Beatles in 1964. By August, the album reached number one on the Billboard 200, where it remained for five weeks, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for one million copies sold. The lead single, "My Sharona", also met with immediate success, becoming Capitol's fastest selling debut single since the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks.

To many critics, the Knack's image seemed too contrived and their attitude too brash, and soon there was a backlash against their overnight success. San Francisco conceptual artist Hugh Brown, who had designed the Clash's Give 'Em Enough Rope album cover, started a "Knuke the Knack" campaign complete with t-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers. Some music writers began to criticize the band for what they perceived as arrogance, hype and a misogynist attitude expressed in their songs. The band's refusal to do interviews was also viewed negatively by the music press. One entertainment weekly, Scene magazine, refused to publish a review of the Knack's concert in Cleveland due to what it called "attempts at censorship" by the band's management.

However, Dick Nusser in Billboard praised many of the songs. Besides the big hits, he noted that the album opener "Let Me Out" is a "teen anthem delivered at full speed" with "delightful backing harmonies, singing, slapping guitars and perfectly tuned drumming," that the quiet ballad "Maybe Tonight" is "a potential standard," and that the pleading song "Oh Tara" indicates that The Knack "aren't strict girl haters." Nasser also called "That's What the Little Girls Do" a "classic," remarking on its "strong melody" and remarked on the Bo Diddley-like riff on "(She's So) Selfish."

Allmusic critic Bruce Eder referred to the Knack's version of Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat" as "a ballad played with a lot of '70s attitude," and that "it does give a fresh take on the song." Trouser Press referred to "Maybe Tonight" as "bottom-of-the-barrel sap" but praised "My Sharona," "Let Me Out" and "Frustrated" as "tight guitar pop." Trouser Press also commented on the negative portrayal of the woman protagonists of "She's So Selfish," "Frustrated" and "That's What the Little Girls Do."