Software (album)
{{Short description|1984 studio album by Grace Slick}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Software
| type = studio
| artist = Grace Slick
| cover = Software Grace Slick.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1984
| recorded = 1983
| studio = The Plant, Sausalito
| genre = {{hlist|Electropop|synth-pop|new wave{{Cite web|url=https://www.vh1.com/news/xhuo8w/11-classic-rockers-who-went-new-wave|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625132827/https://www.vh1.com/news/xhuo8w/11-classic-rockers-who-went-new-wave|url-status=live|archive-date=June 25, 2022|title=11 Classic Rockers Who Went New Wave For One Album|publisher=VH1}}}}
| length = 37:04
| label = RCA
| producer = Ron Nevison
| prev_title = Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!
| prev_year = 1981
| next_title = The Best of Grace Slick
| next_year = 1999
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Software
| type = studio
| single1 = All the Machines
| single1date = January 9, 1984
| single2 = Through the Window
| single2date = June 11, 1984
}}
}}
Software is the fourth and final solo studio album by American singer Grace Slick, released in 1984 by RCA Records. The album was recorded after Slick rejoined Jefferson Starship after temporarily leaving the band in the late 1970s. After working on this album with her, Slick's collaborator Peter Wolf would go on to contribute to Jefferson Starship's 1984 album Nuclear Furniture. 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 sound of the period.{{cite magazine |last1=Puterbaugh |first1=Parke |title=The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra/Software |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=Mar 15, 1984 |issue=417 |page=52}} Guitar use is largely replaced by synthesizers and electric drums. Slick's trademark wailing vocals and improvising is replaced by more short, precise bursts.{{cite book |last=Tamarkin |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeff Tamarkin |url=https://archive.org/details/gotrevolutiontur00tama/page/322/mode/2up |title=Got a Revolution!: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane |location=New York |publisher=Atria Books |year=2003 |page=322 |isbn=978-0-6710-3403-0 |url-access=registration}}
Critical reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/r49539 |title=Software – Grace Slick |first=Joe |last=Viglione |website=AllMusic |year=2011 |access-date=17 August 2011}}
| rev2 = Robert Christgau
}}
The Philadelphia Inquirer 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."{{cite news |last1=Rea |first1=Steven X. |title=Grace Slick Software |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=19 Feb 1984 |page=I9}} The Wall Street Journal 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."{{cite news |last1=Lambert |first1=Pam |title=On Music: Gems in the Rock Pile |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=20 Mar 1984 |department=Leisure & Arts |page=1}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Grace Slick and Peter Wolf, except where noted
| headline = Side one
| title1 = Call It Right Call It Wrong
| length1 = 3:47
| title2 = Me and Me
| length2 = 3:52
| title3 = All the Machines
| length3 = 4:47
| title4 = Fox Face
| length4 = 4:54
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| title1 = Through the Window
| note1 = Peter Beckett
| length1 = 3:32
| title2 = It Just Won't Stop
| length2 = 4:05
| title3 = Habits
| length3 = 3:50
| title4 = Rearrange My Face
| length4 = 3:25
| title5 = Bikini Atoll
| note5 = Slick
| length5 = 4:52
}}
Personnel
=Musicians=
- Grace Slick – lead vocals, background vocals
- Peter Wolf – 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 – 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 – 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
{{Reflist}}
{{Grace Slick}}
{{Authority control}}