''Wave'' is the fourth and final studio album by the

Patti Smith Group Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

. It was released on May 17, 1979, by Arista Records. Produced by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

, the album continued the band's move towards more radio-friendly mainstream

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

sound. ''Wave'' garnered a mixed reception from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

and was less successful than its predecessor, ''

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

'' (1978). However, the songs "

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

" and "

Dancing Barefoot "Dancing Barefoot" is a rock song written by Patti Smith and Ivan Král, and released as a second single from the Patti Smith Group's 1979 album ''Wave''. According to the album sleeve, the song was dedicated to women such as Amedeo Modigliani ...

" both received commercial airplay. Following the album's release, the band disbanded, and frontwoman

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

pursued a solo career nine years later with '' Dream of Life'' (1988).

Background and release

The title track was a tribute to

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...

, whose brief papacy coincided with the recording sessions of ''Wave''. The first single of the album was "

", a love song for frontwoman

's fiancé

Fred "Sonic" Smith Frederick Dewey Smith (September 14, 1948 – November 4, 1994), known professionally as Fred "Sonic" Smith, was an American guitarist, best known as a member of the influential and political Detroit rock band MC5. At age 31, he married and rai ...

with a melody and structure bearing a resemblance to " Because the Night", the group's biggest hit. Smith began writing the lyrics of second single "

" in late 1978 and recorded it in 1979. The song was described as "a swirling, seductive love song" that uses "love-as-addiction" metaphors and wordplay with the words "heroine" and " heroin". Smith stated she was told to replace the word "heroine" with a synonym because of issues with radio airplay, but she objected the decision since she actually intended the lyric to reference the female equivalent of hero. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked the song number 323 on their 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Both songs received commercial airplay. A cover of

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

' " So You Want to Be (A Rock 'n' Roll Star)" was released as the album's third and final single. After ''Wave'' was released, the band disbanded in fall 1979 when finishing their last concert in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, Italy. Patti married Fred on March 1, 1980 and spent many years in semi-retirement from music following the birth of their children, Jesse and Jackson, until her return as a solo singer with '' Dream of Life'' (1988). The 1996 remaster of ''Wave'' includes Smith's original version of "Fire of Unknown Origin".

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla". The band h ...

's version was released on their album of the same name in 1981. The back cover of the original LP bore a quote from the Jean Genet poem "Le Condamné à mort".

Critical reception

Upon its release in 1979, ''Wave'' garnered mixed reviews, attracting either positive or negative commentary on its polished production and conventionality. In '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981), Robert Christgau found the album "quirkier than the more generally satisfying ''

'' and praised "Dancing Barefoot" and the title track. However, he dismissed "Seven Ways of Going" and "Broken Flag" as "unlistable nd less interesting than the band's 1976 album ''

Radio Ethiopia ''Radio Ethiopia,'' the second studio album by the Patti Smith Group, was released in October 1976 through Arista Records. Background ''Radio Ethiopia'' was the follow-up record to Smith's widely acclaimed debut ''Horses''. In interviews surroun ...

''. Tom Carson of ''

'' also negatively likenened ''Wave'' to ''Radio Ethiopia'', concluding that the record "is too confused and hermetically smug to be much more than an interesting failure." Simon Frith of '' Melody Maker'' was more appreciative of the album, praising Rundgren's hand in the production and considered the songs to represent a newfound focus for Smith and the band.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's William Ruhlmann noted that Smith "achieves a sense of charm and sincerity on ''Wave'' that she hadn't even attempted on her earlier albums" but lamented that "the overall mediocre quality of the material makes this the slightest of Smith's efforts." In a 2019 review for ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'', Matt McKinzie dubbed the album as the singer's "most unapologetically-pop effort" where she "reject the idea that her genre capabilities begin and end with th four-letter word unk" Emma Johnston, a writer from ''

Louder Sound ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...

'', ranked ''Wave'' number 6 on a list of Patti Smith's best albums, writing that it was "Smith at her least filtered and most emotionally open, and remains something of an underrated treasure." "Broken Flag" is the 1980s featured music track that accompanies the period spy thriller ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American period spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also serve as showrunners a ...

'', in Season 6 episode 'Harvest' aired on May 9, 2018, accompanying the scene where Elizabeth and Philip dispose of body parts approximately 30 minutes into the episode.

Track listing

Note * On some vinyl releases "So You Want to Be (A Rock 'n' Roll Star)" and "Citizen Ship" swapped places.

Personnel

Patti Smith Group * Jay Dee Daugherty – drums, consultant * Lenny Kaye –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

on "Wave",

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Ivan Kral Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

– bass guitar, guitar,

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

on "Wave", keyboards *

Richard Sohl Richard Arthur Sohl (May 26, 1953June 3, 1990) was an American pianist, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work with the Patti Smith Group. He also played with Iggy Pop, Nina Hagen and Elliott Murphy. He died on June 3, 1990, of a hear ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, ocean effects on "Wave" *

– vocals, piano on "Wave" Additional musicians * Andi Ostrowe –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

on "Seven Ways of Going" *

– bass guitar on "Dancing Barefoot",

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

Technical *

Thom Panunzio Thom Panunzio is a music producer and engineer. His career began in 1974 at the Record Plant Studios NYC, working with John Lennon. Later, he became a staff engineer at the Record Plant, and later at The Hit Factory. Panunzio worked often wit ...

and Patti Smith Group - production on "54321/Wave", recorded live in New York, May 23, 1979 * Vic Anesini – mastering * George Carnell – assistant engineer * Tom Edmonds – assistant engineer * Robert Mapplethorpe - art direction, photography

Charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control Patti Smith albums 1979 albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by Todd Rundgren