Teenage Perversity and Ships in the Night

AMG Review of Teenage Perversity and Ships in the Night

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

Patti Smith released some good albums, but any serious fan of hers will tell you that she performed most of her material better live. There are a number of fine Patti Smith bootlegs, but this one -- taken from a January 1976 show at the Roxy in Los Angeles, with near-perfect fidelity -- is both her best and her best-known. Besides incendiary versions of several songs from her first few LPs, it features covers of "Louie Louie," "My Generation" (with John Cale guesting), and The Velvet Underground's "We're Gonna Have a Good Time Together" and "Pale Blue Eyes," as well as entertaining between-song raps and even a brief cameo by Iggy Pop. It's no exaggeration to claim that this may be her best album, and one of the best '70s punk/new wave albums of all.