CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Snap! (album)

1983 extended play by The Jam

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 30, 2025
Entity authorityQ3963076 ↗
Source-derived summary

Snap! is a greatest hits album by The Jam, released on 14 October 1983, one year after the group disbanded. The double-album includes all sixteen of the band's UK singles, plus some B-sides, album tracks and rarities. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "one of the greatest greatest-hits albums of all time". A shorter version, removing the 8 non-singles, was released as a single CD in 1985 as Compact Snap!.

Editions

Initial quantities of the album included a limited edition 4-track EP, Live, recorded at Wembley Arena during the farewell tour of 1982. Featuring the tracks "Get Yourself Together", "Move On Up", "The Great Depression" and "But I'm Different Now", the EP is notable for the fact that these songs were never re-issued on any other Jam compilation.

A shorter version, with 8 tracks less than the original so that it could fit on a single CD, was released in 1984 as Compact Snap!. The omitted tracks were the non-single tracks "Away from the Numbers", "Billy Hunt", "English Rose", "Mr. Clean", "The Butterfly Collector", "Thick As Thieves", "Man in the Corner Shop" and "Tales from the Riverbank".

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Snap! (album)” as 1983 extended play by The Jam. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1983, 1985, 1982, 1984—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1983-10-14. The account is most persuasive where Snap, album and extended can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1983 extended play by The Jam. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 30, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3963076. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1983, 1985, 1982 and 1984.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Snap! (album)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Snap! (album) primary sources, Snap! (album) archive and Snap research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Snap! (album)”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Snap! (album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.