In order to promote the album, the duo embarked the "Big Bam Boom Tour – Live Through '85". It was their last major roadtrip together for a Hall & Oates record; they did most of the traveling in a private plane. MTV provided tour date and ticket outlet announcements and the channel's name appeared on all tickets and print advertising, and was tagged on all radio spots. The duo performed a show at The Forum in Inglewood, California, on December 17, 1984, with a satellite-delivered live broadcast of the concert; it was aired the next day. The radio broadcast was remastered and released on CD, via music download and streaming in 2015 under the title: "The LA Forum – 17 Dec 1984". In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called "Big Bam Boom" "a sprawling and diffuse album" and "a bigger, noisier record than its predecessors, with its rhythms smacking around in an echo chamber and each track built on layers of synthesizers and studio effects". In Erlewine's opinion, it was a disappointment coming after a trio of albums that had very few flaws. Erlewine also criticized the production on the album saying that "it obscures the dark undercurrent to many of the tunes, several of which seem to foreshadow the duo's long hiatus following this record". The album debuted at number 33 on the "Billboard" 200 the week of October 27, 1984 as the highest debut of the week. After five weeks it peaked at number five on the chart on December 1, 1984. The album remained on the chart for 51 weeks and was ranked as the 17th most successful album of 1985 on the "Billboard" 200. Additionally, it reached number 25 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart the week of January 12, 1985. By December 1984 the album sold one million copies in the US and it was certified Platinum on December 3, 1984, eventually, it sold another million of copies and it was certified double Platinum by the RIAA on April 1, 1985. In the United Kingdom the album debuted and peaked at number 28 on October 28, 1984 and was present on the chart for 13 weeks. It was certified Silver by the BPI on February 1, 1985 for shipments of 60,000.