5.0 out of 5 stars
Two Masterpieces, March 6, 2007
This review is from: Gone Again/Horses (Audio CD)
This double pack includes two of Patti Smith's greatest albums. With Horses, she reinvigorated rock in the mid 1970s. A lot of British Punk was just 3-chord anger, but Horses opened up new worlds with its poetic lyrics and melodicism. This ominous version of Gloria, the lilting reggae of the melancholy Redondo Beach, the evocative surrealism of Kimberly and the violently erotic title track were like nothing else in rock music, and they're still unique and special.
I'm not crazy about each & every track but they all have great worth and Horses will forever stand as a monument to the best in rock music. Excepting the complex title track, all the aforementioned songs are quite accessible and hummable to the mainstream (as opposed to Art Rock) fan.
Gone Again is the brilliant 1996 comeback album. It overwhelmed me since it contains everything that I've always loved about her music, and that I find lacking in the subsequent Peace & Noise and Gung Ho. Although many of the songs are about loss, the overall mood is one of transcendence and strength in adversity, as encapsulated in the lines: "Dead to the world/Alive I awoke." My favourites are the four beautiful ballads Dead To The World, Ravens, Beneath The Southern Cross and the very folky Farewell Reel.
Everything that makes her music great is here: poetic, inspired lyrics, great soaring melodies and that visceral, soul-wrencing voice of hers, plus the passionate playing of the band. The players include John Cale on organ, Tom Verlaine on guitar, Jay Dee Daugherty on drums, Lenny Kaye on drums and Kimberly Smith on mandolin, plus Jeff Buckley (R.I.P.) on backing vocals. Gone Again is definitely one of the Top 5 rock albums of the 90s, and ranks among her best work ever - up there next to Horses and Easter.
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