Wave (Patti Smith Group album)

Wave is the fourth studio album by Patti Smith, and the third and final album where the Patti Smith Group is billed. It was released on May 17, 1979, by Arista Records. Produced by Todd Rundgren, the album continued the band's move towards more radio-friendly mainstream pop rock sound. Wave garnered a mixed reception from music critics and was less successful than its predecessor, Easter (1978). However, the songs "Frederick" and "Dancing Barefoot" both received commercial airplay. Following the album's release, the band disbanded, and frontwoman Patti Smith pursued a solo career nine years later with Dream of Life (1988).

"Citizen Ship" redirects here. For the political concept, see citizenship.
Wave
Studio album by
Patti Smith Group
ReleasedMay 17, 1979 (1979-05-17)
Recorded1979
StudioBearsville (Woodstock, New York)
Genre
Length37:45
LabelArista
ProducerTodd Rundgren
Patti Smith chronology
Easter
(1978)		 Wave
(1979)		 Dream of Life
(1988)
Singles from Wave
  1. "Frederick AS 0427"
    Released: 1979
  2. "Dancing Barefoot ARIST 281 (UK)"
    Released: 1979
  3. "So You Want to Be
    (A Rock 'n' Roll Star)     AS 0453"
    Released: 1979

Background and release

The title track was a tribute to Pope John Paul I, whose brief papacy coincided with the recording sessions of Wave. The first single of the album was "Frederick", a love song for frontwoman Patti Smith's fiancé Fred "Sonic" Smith with a melody and structure bearing a resemblance to "Because the Night", the group's biggest hit.[2][3] Smith began writing the lyrics of second single "Dancing Barefoot" in late 1978 and recorded it in 1979.[4] The song was described as "a swirling, seductive love song" that uses "love-as-addiction" metaphors and wordplay with the words "heroine" and "heroin".[3] 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 ranked the song number 323 on their 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[5] Both songs received commercial airplay.[4] A cover of the Byrds' "So You Want to Be (A Rock 'n' Roll Star)" was released as the album's third and final single.[3]

After Wave was released, the band disbanded in fall 1979 when finishing their last concert in Florence, 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).[2] The 1996 remaster of Wave includes Smith's original version of "Fire of Unknown Origin". Blue Öyster Cult'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
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[6]
Mojo[7]
Rolling Stone(not rated)[3]
Smash Hits5/10[8]
Spin[9]

In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau found the album "quirkier than the more generally satisfying Easter and praised "Dancing Barefoot" and the title track. However, he dismissed "Seven Ways of Going" and "Broken Flag" as "unlistenable [and less interesting than]" the band's 1976 album Radio Ethiopia.[6] Tom Carson of Rolling Stone 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."[3] 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'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."[1] In a 2019 review for PopMatters, Matt McKinzie dubbed the album as the singer's "most unapologetically-pop effort" where she "reject[s] the idea that her genre capabilities begin and end with th[e] four-letter word [punk]."[10] Emma Johnston, a writer from Louder Sound, 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."[11]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Frederick"Patti Smith3:01
2."Dancing Barefoot"
4:18
3."So You Want to Be (A Rock 'n' Roll Star)"
4:18
4."Hymn"
1:10
5."Revenge"
  • Smith
  • Kral
5:06
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Citizen Ship"
  • Smith
  • Kral
5:09
7."Seven Ways of Going"
  • Smith
  • Kral
  • Kaye
  • Jay Dee Daugherty
  • Richard Sohl
5:12
8."Broken Flag"
  • Smith
  • Kaye
4:55
9."Wave"Smith4:55
CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Fire of Unknown Origin"
  • Smith
  • Kaye
2:09
11."5-4-3-2-1" / "Wave" (Live, May 23, 1979, New York)
2:43

Note

  • On some vinyl releases "So You Want to Be (A Rock 'n' Roll Star)" and "Citizen Ship" swapped places.[12]

Personnel

Patti Smith Group

Additional musicians

Technical

  • Thom Panunzio 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
Chart (1979) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[13] 30
France (SNEP)[14] 2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 19
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 16
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 18
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 6
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 17
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 47
US Billboard 200[22] 18

|

Year-end charts
1979 year-end chart performance for Wave
Chart (1979) Position
French Albums (SNEP)[23] 4

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[24] Gold 100,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Date Label Format Catalog No.
May 17, 1979 Arista Records LP 4221
c. 1986 (original CD release from LP master) Arista Records CD 251139
1996 (Digital Remaster by Bill Inglot and Ken Perry) Arista Records CD 18829-2
2007 (20-bit Digital Remaster by Bob Irwin and Vic Anesini) Sony BMG CD 37930
2008 Sony BMG CD 'Original Album Classics' box set 88697313832

Notes
  1. Ruhlmann, William. "Patti Smith Group - Wave". AllMusic. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  2. "Patti Smith – Biography. "Three chord rock merged with the power of the word"". Arista Records. June 1996. Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. Retrieved April 19, 2009.
  3. Carson, Tom (June 28, 1979). "A Real Drip -- Patti Smith: Under the Double Ego". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 26, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  4. Smith, Patti (2002). "Song of the Week: Dancing Barefoot". Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  5. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. October 16, 2007. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  6. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  7. Aston, Martin (October 2015). "Dancing with Ghosts" (PDF). Mojo. No. 263. London. p. 38. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  8. Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (June 14–27 1979): 25.
  9. Marchese, David (September 2008). "Discography: Patti Smith". Spin. Vol. 24, no. 9. New York. p. 108. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  10. McKinzie, Matt (November 14, 2019). "Patti Smith's 'Wave' Turns 40: Why the Punk Poet's Pop Album Is Also Her Greatest". PopMatters. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  11. Johnston, Emma (November 11, 2019). "Patti Smith: Every album ranked from worst to best". Louder Sound. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  12. "Patti Smith Group – Wave". Discogs. April 27, 1979. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 278. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. "French Albums Chart".
  15. "Austriancharts.at – Patti Smith Group – Wave" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Patti Smith Group – Wave" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  17. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  18. "Charts.nz – Patti Smith Group – Wave". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  19. "Norwegiancharts.com – Patti Smith Group – Wave". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  20. "Swedishcharts.com – Patti Smith Group – Wave". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  21. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  22. "Patti Smith Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  23. "Les Albums (CD) de 1979 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on September 17, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  24. "French album certifications – Patti Smith Group – Wave" (in French). InfoDisc. Select PATTI SMITH GROUP and click OK. 
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