Horses

Easter Patti Smith cowrote her first big hit, "Because the Night," with Bruce Springsteen, and that track was the force behind this album's ascent of the U.S. Top 40. Never fully departing from her punk-poetess roots, Easter was nonetheless produced by hit maker Jimmy Iovine, resulting ...	The Velvet Underground & Nico When the Velvets recorded this debut, they were best known as the protégés of Andy Warhol (who designed the sleeve), and as a grating, combustive live band. Fueled by drummer Moe Tucker's no-nonsense wham and John Cale's howling viola, some of the straight-up rock & roll and ar...	Radio Ethiopia Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2007.	Twelve Both a stopgap release until Patti Smith writes another album's worth of material and a way to keep her name in front of the public after her highly publicized 2007 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this set of a dozen covers finds the singer/poet in an unusually ref...	Wave Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2007.
London Calling Bursting at the seams with creative energy, the Clash's stunning 1979 double album more than made up for the artistic and commercial disappointment of its predecessor, 1978's tried-too-hard Give 'Em Enough Rope. With ex-Mott the Hoople producer Guy Stevens harnessing their sound ...	Ramones The Ramones' April 1976 debut, recorded for little more than $6,000, long ago passed into legend. Its exalted status as the inspiration for thousands of punk bands worldwide, though, hasn't overshadowed its monolithic roar, the knowing hilarity of its lyrics ("Judy Is a Punk" cra...	Marquee Moon Remastered digipak reissue of classic 1977 debut, includes 5 bonus tracks 'Little Johnny Jewel' (parts 1 & 2), 'See No Evil' (alternate version), 'Friction' (alternate version), 'Marquee Moon' (alternate version) & untitled instrumental. Elektra. 2003.	Gone Again Freighted with themes of death and redemption, this is a deliriously challenging, deeply rewarding return by one of the immortals. The title track and the single "Summer Cannibals" are the lone upbeat rockers amid an artfully low-key, frequently folk-based collection of campfire ...	The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust After flirting with heavy guitar rock ("The Man Who Sold the World") and lighter pop ("Hunky Dory"), Bowie found middle ground on Ziggy Stardust. The creation of the Ziggy Stardust persona would live on well after Bowie shed the alien skin, marking the first rock concept album by...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Patti Smith's classic "Horses" is as much a theatre piece in audio form as it is a rock n roll album. Smith's instances of spoken word poetry certainly make you feel like you're listening to more than a rock album. And this album really did bring me to understanding of the true powers of music, a revelation that I've never realized until I heard this album. In this album, it truly is the best of times, it truly is the worst of times; it brings out the best and worst that life can give you, through the powers of poetry and music. It can make you happy, sad; it can make you laugh, cry. As I said before, this truly has the dimensions of a grand theatre piece, just in the form of a rock album. I'll never look at any other album the same way again. Patti Smith's "Horses" is a truly life-changing album.

Horses is the beautiful poetry of a genius
Patti Smith's Horses is a brutal and bloody masterwork of American punk rock. I am a little surprised to see that this album has only been reviewed 64 times, while most of the artists that I consider to be Smith's sonic neighbors---Velvet Underground, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Van Morrison etc.---have many hundreds of reviews. Maybe this is because the soundstyle of Horses is hard to classify: its too much punk to be considered psychedelic rock, and its too psychedelic to be called punk. Horses seems too well-planned to be garage rock, but at the same time its too primitive to be called art rock. Come to think of it, the music is a lot like the album cover: androgynous. It's kind-of weird for me to say this, but at times I've found myself quite unable to connect with this album, skipped through every song, and then threw it down on the floor in disgust. Other times I've been truly inspired by the album, and have listened to it over and over again on repeat. Finally, I must say that I agree with the numerous others who have pointed out the uselessness of the My Generation bonus track---it completely disrupts the flow of the album.

Commerical, generic garbage for aging hippies.
Who still listens to this junk? First, she isn't even hot. Who listens to ugly female singers? Listen to true beauties like Jessica Simpson. Hot = talent. Second, this album is like 1000 years old. It never even got any BET airplay! An artist is only good if they're on BET. Third, this is commerical, generic garbage! It was overproduced, too commercial and Patti's voice was generated through a computer. What you're hearing is basically a machine making this pathetic excuse for "music". She even tried making a rap song ("Redondo Beach"). Wow, Patti, give it up. You'll never be as good as 50 Cent. Sorry.

A real disappointment
I listened to "Horse" a couple of times after having heard music by Ms. Smith that I found dynamic and emotionally moving. I had also heard rave critiques and was very interested in hearing what many consider to be her best work. The words that come to mind are self absorbed and pretentious, and in large part musically lame. Enjoy it if you enjoy it: perhaps you had to be there at the time of its inception to truly appreciate it. As far as I am concerned this piece falls far short of its mark, and the praise that has been heaped upon it.

Patti's Poetic Punk Horses
"Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine"--Patti Smith. With her 1975 debut album, Horses, Patti Smith managed to single-handedly fuse beat poetry with punk rock. At the time, Smith was a member of the NYC St. Mark's Poetry Project and the founding member of Patti Smith Group, featuring Lenny Kaye on guitars, Ivan Kral on bass, Jay Dee Daugherty on drums, and Richard Sohl on piano. Produced by John Cale (with some inspiration from the spirit Jimi Hendrix), the album opens with an intense cover of Van Morrison's 1964 Them song, "Gloria," then transitions into "Redondo Beach" (a song Morrissey frequently performs live; Live at Earls Court). Smith based the lyrics of "Birdland" on a memoir of Wilhelm Reich, Book of Dreams (1973). Both Morrissey and Johnny Marr of The Smiths have said that Horses left them in awe. They are not alone. (Although Morrissey has always said he chose the name The Smiths because it was "the most ordinary name" he could think of, I have always wondered if he chose the name out of love for Patti Smith.) For me, Horses was a college favorite. A near-perfect album song sequence includes: 1. Gloria (Digitally Remastered 1996) 5:56 2. Redondo Beach (Digitally Remastered 1996) 3:27 3. Birdland (Digitally Remastered 1996) 9:15 4. Free Money (Digitally Remastered 1996) 3:52 5. Kimberly (Digitally Remastered 1996) 4:26 6. Break It Up (Digitally Remastered 1996) 4:02 7. Land (Digitally Remastered 1996) 9:28 8. Elegie (Digitally Remastered 1996) 2:42 9. My Generation (Bonus Track/Digitally Remastered 1996) 3:31 G. Merritt