''Software'' is the fourth and final solo studio album by American singer

Grace Slick Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, s ...

, released in 1984 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. The album was recorded after Slick rejoined

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albu ...

. After working on this album,

Peter Wolf Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of the J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983 and as a solo artist. Early life and education Peter Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946 in The ...

would go on to contribute to Jefferson Starship's 1984 album ''

Nuclear Furniture ''Nuclear Furniture'' is the eighth album by American rock band Jefferson Starship, released on May 30, 1984 through Grunt Records. It was the last album released by the band until 1998's ''Windows of Heaven'', and was also the final album by the b ...

''. A music video was made for the single "All the Machines". ''Software'' has been described as Slick's attempt to assimilate with the

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

sound of the period. Guitar use is largely replaced by synthesizers and electric drums. Slick's trademark wailing vocals and improvising is replaced by more short, precise bursts.

Critical reception

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' wrote that Slick "jumps on the synthesizer bandwagon, putting every ping, pip and pow electro-pop has to offer into another batch of inimitably banal songs." ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' determined that Slick "really sings, with intelligence and control... The only problem is that the lyrics she's written for herself aren't up to Mr. Wolf's well-crafted music."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

– lead vocals, background vocals *

– keyboards, Linn programming, synth bass *Peter Maunu – guitars on all tracks except "Rearrange My Face" * Brian MacLeod – Simmons drums *Bret Bloomfield – Fender bass on "Me and Me" *Michael Spiro – percussion on "Me and Me", "Fox Face", "Rearrange My Face" and "Bikini Atoll" *Dale Strumpel – sound effects on "All the Machines" and "Bikini Atoll" *Sean Hopper,

Paul Kantner Paul Lorin Kantner (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era. He cont ...

– background vocals on "All the Machines" and "It Just Won't Stop" * John Colla, Mickey Thomas – background vocals on "Call It Right Call It Wrong", "Me and Me", "All the Machines", "Through the Window", "It Just Won't Stop" and "Rearrange My Face" *

Ron Nevison Ron Nevison is an American record producer and audio engineer. He started his career in the early 1970s as an engineer on ''Quadrophenia'' by the Who and Bad Company's debut album. He eventually became a producer, working with artists including M ...

– background vocals on "Me and Me" *Ina Wolf – background vocals

Production

*Ron Nevison – producer, engineer, arrangements *Rick Sanchez – assistant engineer *Dee Dee Miller – production assistant *Peter Wolf – arrangements *Michael Pangrazio – album cover illustrator *Paykos Phior – album cover design *Andrea Hein – album cover coordination, back cover concept *Grace Slick – front cover concept

References

{{Authority control Grace Slick albums 1984 albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Ron Nevison