Banga (album)

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Banga
Studio album by
Patti Smith
ReleasedJune 1, 2012 (2012-06-01)
Recorded2011
Studio
Tony Shanahan, Jay Dee Daugherty, Lenny Kaye
Patti Smith chronology
Twelve
(2007) 		Banga
(2012)
Singles from Banga
  1. "April Fool"
    Released: April 1, 2012

Banga is the eleventh and most recent studio album by American

Jack Petruzzelli
and Smith's own children, Jackson and Jesse Paris.

Inspired by Smith's "unique dreams and observations",[1] the material on Banga focuses on "a wide range of human experience" and features songs about history, current affairs, death and nature. The album was announced alongside the release of its lead single, "April Fool", as a digital download on April 1, 2012.

Recording

Banga was recorded throughout 2011 at Electric Lady Studios in New York. Speaking of the recording process, Smith said: "there's a certain innocence recording your first things that you can't recapture but we recorded this album in the same studio -- in Jimi Hendrix' studio Electric Lady -- with the same personnel, the same sense of idealism and even, by coincidence, the record is coming out on the anniversary of when we recorded my debut album

Tony Shanahan, Jay Dee Daugherty and Lenny Kaye
.

Composition

The material on Banga is "inspired by Smith's unique dreams and observations" and the album's lyrics are "a reflection of our complex world – a world that is rife with chaos and beauty."[1] Both the album's musical structure and lyrical themes vary. "Amerigo" is based on "imagining the voyage of Amerigo Vespucci to the New World in 1497" and "Fuji-san" is a rock song in tribute to the people of Japan following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. "This is the Girl" is referred to as "a classic ballad" in memory of English musician Amy Winehouse and "Nine" is reportedly a birthday song for Smith's friend Johnny Depp.[1][3] "Constantine's Dream" is a "ten-minute-plus improvisational meditation" and Smith has said " [in the song] there are many questions. It questions the role of artists in our society. The questions are there, and they're not answerable questions." "Maria" is partially based on actress Maria Schneider and the song Smith calls "the more emotional song on the record." Describing the song, Smith said: "it's the one that looks back on a beautiful time and sort of encapsulates the [1970s] in a certain way for me. It's a nice little R&B song, but an emotional song."[4]

Smith told Q that part of the album had been written on the ill-fated cruise ship Costa Concordia.[5]

Packaging

In an interview on

hemicrania that tortured him.[7] Other songs on the album were also inspired by literature, particularly "April Fool," inspired by Nikolai Gogol.[6]

The photos within the booklet of the CD detail part of the album's composition, in late 2011 aboard the Costa Concordia, months before she capsized off the coast of Italy. Smith and Kaye were invited by Jean-Luc Godard to accompany him while he was shooting his film Socialisme. Smith makes a brief cameo appearance in the film.[8] The Banga CD booklet includes photos taken of Smith and her band during their cruise.[9]

Release

Banga was announced for released on April 1, 2012.

LP
with a special edition CD including a 64-page hardcover book of images, lyrics and liner notes and a bonus track titled "Just Kids."

Smith promoted the album with a 40-date European tour, beginning in Bergen, Norway on June 23 and concluding in London, United Kingdom on September 13.[12] The tour included two legs in the United Kingdom, one in June and another in September.[13] Smith also performed at a number of summer festivals including the ZMF Festival in Freiburg, Germany[14] Bospop in Weert, Netherlands[15] Stockholm Music and Arts Festival in Stockholm, Sweden[16] and Electric Picnic in Stradbally, Ireland.[17]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Pitchfork Media
7.1/10[27]
Rolling Stone[28]

Banga was released to widespread critical acclaim. At

Pitchfork Media editor Lindsay Zoladz gave the album a 7.1 out of 10, writing, "Banga meditates on ideas about exploration and adventure" but noted that "the shorter, less assuming tracks that best capture that spirit of discovery" and said "though neither a high point nor a low point in her freewheeling, four-decade career, Banga has the same charm of Smith's best albums: It flits with the impressionistic fascinations of a single mind."[27] Rolling Stone reviewer Will Hermes awarded the album three and half stars out of five, saying that Banga "has sweet moments of song" but "the real magic happens when the words start flying off the grooves," citing "Constantine's Dream" as the album's stand-out track.[28] Shah Salimat from Mediacorp xinmsn (MSN Singapore) said that Smith's voice "shines best unadorned for all to feel" and calls "Mosaic" the track "that will have you channeling your inner Stevie Nicks."[29]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Amerigo"Smith,
Tony Shanahan
4:36
2."April Fool"Smith, Shanahan3:46
3."Fuji-san"Smith, Lenny Kaye4:12
4."This Is the Girl"Smith, Shanahan, Stewart Lerman3:49
5."Banga"Smith2:51
6."Maria"Smith, Shanahan5:05
7."Mosaic"Smith, Jay Dee Daugherty4:12
8."Tarkovsky (The Second Stop is Jupiter)"Smith, Sun Ra4:50
9."Nine"Smith5:02
10."Seneca"Smith, Kaye5:39
11."Constantine's Dream"Smith, Kaye10:19
12."After the Gold Rush"Neil Young4:13
Total length:58:34
Deluxe edition[30] bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Just Kids"Smith4:28
Total length:63:02

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] 50
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33] 23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34] 10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[35] 18
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[36] 29
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[37] 7
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[38] 37
Finnish Albums (
Suomen virallinen lista)[39]
 21
French Albums (
SNEP)[40]
 10
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[41] 19
Irish Albums (IRMA)[42] 83
Italian Albums (FIMI)[43] 9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[44] 32
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[45] 3
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[46] 22
Scottish Albums (OCC)[47]
 47
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[48] 44
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[49] 10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[50] 12
UK Albums (OCC)[51] 47
US Billboard 200[52] 57
US
Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[53]
 22

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Catalog
Ireland[54] June 1, 2012 CD, limited edition CD, digital download 88697222172
United Kingdom[3] June 4, 2012
United States[1][55] June 5, 2012
June 26, 2012
LP

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States — 29,730[56]

References

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  2. ^ Cochrane, Myles (May 10, 2012). "Poetric-punk pioneer Patti Smith to take rare acoustic show to HSU Thursday - Times-Standard Online". Times-Standard. Archived from the original on September 18, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Patti Smith pays tribute to Amy Winehouse on new album 'Banga' | News | NME.COM". NME. April 2, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  4. ^ Smith, Patti; Giannini, Melissa (May 24, 2012). "Patti Smith on When to Break Rules and Nap on Logs | SPIN | Profiles | Words of Wisdom". Spin. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  5. ^ "Patti Smith recording aboard the Costa Concordia". Q. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b ""Sunday Morning" presents: Patti Smith – CBS News Video". CBS. April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012. N.B. References are found from 3:42–5:27 in the embed video.
  7. ^ "The Master and Margarita – Other biblical characters". masterandmargarita.eu. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
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  9. ^ "Patti Smith recording aboard the Costa Concordia". Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  10. ^ "Sam Shepard and Patti Smith | Abbey Theatre – Amharclann na Mainistreach". abbeytheatre.ie. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  11. ^ "Patti Smith's Mother's Day Show at City Winery – Feast of Music". feastofmusic.com. May 16, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
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  14. ^ "ZMF.de –Das Zelt-Musik-Festival 2012 in Freiburgvon 4 Juli – 22. Juli: Patti Smith and her band". zmf.de (in German). Archived from the original on May 29, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
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  27. ^
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  56. ^ "Dec 09th - Dec 16th, 2014 | PDF | the Beatles | Entertainment (General)".
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