Radio Ethiopia
After the success of Horses Patti Smith had something to prove to reviewers and to the industry, and Radio Ethiopia aimed at both. Producer Jack Douglas gave "the Patti Smith Group " as it was now billed, a hard rock sound, notably on the side-opening "Ask the Angels" and "Pumping (My Heart)," songs that seemed aimed at album-oriented rock radio. But the title track was a ten-minute guitar extravaganza that pushed the group's deliberate primitivism closer to amateurish thrashing. Elsewhere, Smith repeated the reggae excursions and vocal overlaying that had paced Horses on "Ain't It Strange" and "Poppies," but these efforts were less effective than they had been the first time around, perhaps because they were less inspired, perhaps because they were more familiar. A schizophrenic album in which the many elements that had worked so well together on Horses now seemed jarringly incompatible, with Radio Ethiopia Smith and her band encountered the same development problem the punks would -- as they learned their craft and competence set in, they lost some of the unself-consciousness that had made their music so appealing. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
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Credits »
Jay Dee Daugherty - Mixing
Jay Dee Daugherty - Consultant
Jack Douglas - Producer
Sam Ginsberg - Assistant Engineer
Lynn Goldsmith - Photography
Lenny Kaye - Mixing
Ivan Kral - ?
George Marino - Mastering
Jay Messina - Engineer
Jay Messina - Mixing
Rod O'Brien - Assistant Engineer
Andi Ostrowe - ?
Patti Smith - Main Performer
Patti Smith - Performer
Patti Smith - Design
Bob Irwin - Mastering
Patti Smith Group - Performer
Vic Anesini - Mastering
Sherri Whitmarsh - Reissue Design
Nancy Greenberg - Design
Brian Sperber - Engineer
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