Description
The Wanderer is the eighth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Donna Summer (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012), released on Geffen Records in October 1980, manufactured by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded by Brian Reeves, Harold Faltermeyer, and Jürgen Koppers at Westlake Audio in Los Angeles, California; with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte producing. Mixed by Faltermeyer, Koppers, Moroder and Bellotte at Westlake Audio except “Running For Cover” mixed at Rusk Sound Studios in Los Angeles.
While at the top of her career Donna Summer decided to leave her existing label Casablanca and became the first artist signed to the new Geffen label. It looked like the disco era was coming to a close and Summer needed to modify her style to include more R&B and rock on her first Geffen album. The album and its title track were both hits. The album peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Album Chart while the title track hit No. 3 on the US singles chart. Donna Summer was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for “Cold Love”, and Best Inspirational Performance for “I Believe in Jesus” (a song written by Donna Summer) at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards, February 1982.
The Wanderer is Donna Summer’s most consistent album, and that alone would make it her best. But this disc does something more for Summer. By placing her firmly within a rock & roll context in which she thrives, The Wanderer clearly proves that she’s an artist as well as a star. The result is music that exudes both strength and delight. …
… “The Wanderer” itself is the summation of these themes: musically and lyrically, it sets up what is to follow. Inevitably, the tune emerges as a declaration of independence – not only independence from the business entanglements of past years but from creative pigeonholing and whatever fears the artist may have had. In track after track, Summer beats back the night and blasts through dread into the finer emotions. The portraits of street life in «Running for Cover» and the opening verse of «Nightlife», the hard-knocks romances of «Breakdown» and «Cold Love», the commentaries on stardom in «Who Do You Think You’re Foolin’» and «Stop Me» are all of a piece.
Yet Donna Summer’s journey from innocence to experience is built on such firm foundations that it’s utterly without bitterness. Even in The Wanderer’s most awesome and shattering love song, the brittle and brilliant «Cold Love», she’s triumphant: “Hope in the dark, love in the light/ I’ll keep on looking for someone who’s right.” In the end, this triumph is so total that the closing number, «I Believe in Jesus» (a statement of belief so naive it ought to seem puerile), sounds completely natural and fitting.
«I Believe in Jesus» is the first convincing gospel-based vocal performance of Summer’s career. Based on the militant fundamentalist hymn «Onward Christian Soldiers» and the nursery rhyme «Mary Had a Little Lamb», the composition escapes being cloying only by the narrowest of margins – a chorus so perfectly sung that to deny it is practically inconceivable: “I believe in Jesus you know I know him oh so well/ And I’m going to heaven by and by ’cause I already been through hell.” …. [Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone Magazine, March 19, 1981, No. 339]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-wanderer/1587041156)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “The Wanderer” – 3:44
A2. “Looking Up” – 3:56
A3. “Breakdown” – 4:06
A4. “Grand Illusion” – 3:54
A5. “Running for Cover” – 3:47
Side Two
B1. “Cold Love” – 3:37
B2. “Who Do You Think You’re Foolin'” – 4:17
B3. “Nightlife” – 4:00
B4. “Stop Me” – 3:43
B5. “I Believe in Jesus” – 3:18
Note: Simultaneously released on 8-track tape, cassette, and 12-inch vinyl LP by Geffen Records. Later re-issued on CD. Remastered and re-issued on CD by Driven By The Music in December 2014, featuring the original studio album, bonus tracks, lyrics and extensive liner notes. Includes two bonus tracks: “Who Do You Think You’re Foolin’” (Stereo – Edit) and “Cold Love” (Edit). As well released on 12-inch vinyl LP by Driven By The Music.
The Wanderer (40th Anniversary)
The Wanderer, 2014 (Re-mastered & Expanded)
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