Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

The album reached number six in Britain and 35 in the United States, and went platinum there. It was released in Britain on 26 May 1987 and in the United States on 3 June. Just Like Heaven was its third single, and the band's first US Top 40 hit.

Before the sessions Smith forced himself to write music on fifteen days of each month, and that routine produced Just Like Heaven. He asked each band member for musical ideas on cassette, got six or seven songs from each, and the band voted on a shortlist, a change from his earlier control of the writing. In August 1986 they did two weeks of pre-production at Jean Costa's studio in Draguignan, then spent three months at Studio Miraval, aiming for spontaneity, almost jamming the songs and recording in one or two takes. They had enough strong material to justify a double album. Smith mixed it with David M. Allen and engineer Michel Dierickx in December 1986 at Compass Point in the Bahamas and in January 1987 at ICP in Belgium. Smith described it as like an end to the last ten years of the band.

The first CD left out Hey You!!! to fit the 74:33 limit. The sleeve by Andy Vella is a photograph of Smith's lipstick-covered lips. Reviews at the time were mixed to positive. Rolling Stone's Mark Coleman called it a breakthrough, and Q's Chris Heath called it a remarkable mess. Later writers were warmer: AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it more accessible and ambitious, and Pitchfork's Nitsuh Abebe called it the band's greatest and most definitive work. The Guardian placed Catch twentieth and Just Like Heaven sixth in its 2024 list of the band's best songs.