The band spent most of 1969 on the cabaret circuit in England, which vocalist Carl Wayne eventually adjusted to but Rick Price and guitarist/vocalist Roy Wood loathed.

As such, though numerous spoken word sections were added to both pad out the album's length and give it the appearance of a concept, Shazam was essentially the Move's 1969 stage act captured on record: a mixture of California psychedelia, heavy metal riffs, thundering drums, and interpolations from classic composers.

The shortage of new material also meant that, even with the band re-recording a track from their first album ("Cherry Blossom Clinic"), the bulk of Shazam (33 of its 39 minutes) had to be devoted to cover songs.

These include a medley of works which were in the public domain and so could be listed on the album as part of Wood's composition "Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited" without giving any credit to their composers.

[3] "Hello Susie" had previously been a hit for Amen Corner, though their faster, more pop-oriented version was markedly different from the Move's heavy metal treatment.

"[3] Wood reckoned The Move had gone as far as it could go, short of breaking through in America, and wanted to launch a new strings-and-rock project with Jeff Lynne, which would become The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO).

Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1970, Robert Christgau said the album is "one version of an overly self-conscious mode (in the perception if not the creation) which I call stupid-rock.

[7] In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the "short-yet-sprawling" album reflected the band's growth into a "muscular and weirder" group.