Wave cover
Released

The final album of the original Patti Smith Group’s run, Wave is often seen as an uneven attempt to attract more of the mainstream attention Smith and company had gathered with Easter and “Because The Night.” Certainly some of its polished production by Todd Rundgren sounds perfect for late 1970s rock radio playlists, as the opening “Frederick” shows. But the cover of the Byrds’ “So You Want To Be (A Rock’n’Roll Star),” the unsettling flow of “Dancing Barefoot” or the intense rampage of “Citizen Ship” all show much more was happening.

Ned Raggett

Recommended by

Suggestions
Ready To Fly cover

Ready To Fly

The Verlaines
Skin Yard cover

Skin Yard

Skin Yard
Blazing Away cover

Blazing Away

Marianne Faithfull
Strangers cover

Strangers

Marissa Nadler
A Lie Of The Mind cover

A Lie Of The Mind

Mark Nichols, Carla Torgerson
Waterdrawn cover

Waterdrawn

The Horse's Ha
Amnesiac cover

Amnesiac

Radiohead