Gone Again

Patti Smith | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 23, 2011)
• Original Release Date: June 18, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B000002VO0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,321 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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 poetics ("Ravens," "Dead to the World"), Old Testament testifying (the Dylan-esque "Wicked Messenger"), and bittersweet laments ("Farewell Real," "Beneath the Southern Cross"). The album's two epics ("About a Boy," "Fireflies") are fascinating, but it's the achingly gorgeous "My Madrigal" that speaks best of Smith's maturity and questing spirit. --Jeff Bateman

Product Description

Gone Again by Patti Smith

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Greats, June 1, 2002

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gone Again (Audio CD)

Patti Smith is an artist whose failures are often as interesting as her successes, and many of her recordings offer a mixture of both--but here in GONE AGAIN, which Smith dedicates to her deceased husband, there is only success piled upon success. This is easily the best of her post-comeback recordings, and it ranks along side her earlier successes HORSES and EASTER.

The title cut, which opens the collection, blasts full throttle with all the ferocity one expects of Patti Smith at her best--but the cut is actually a little atypical of the album as a whole, which adopts a quiet, musing tone as Smith sings about life, love, and loss. In the process, Smith proves (as if there was any doubt) that she is just as if not more powerful without recourse to the screaming guitars and multi-layered vocals that marked her earlier recordings. "Southern Cross," "About a Boy," and "My Madrigal" are particularly fine, memorable, and haunting introspections... but simply stated, there is not a single weak track in the entire collection. It's all powerful stuff.

This is easily one of Smith's best, and many will consider it her absolute best. And if you've ever wondered why Patti Smith is considered one of the most innovative, influential performers of "art" rock, GONE AGAIN will explain all you need to know. An essential recording.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of my favorite records, April 4, 2000

By 

S. Bush (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gone Again (Audio CD)

I was actually going to review Gung Ho, her new CD, but I got to thinking about how wonderful Gone Again is, and how much this record means to me. There is not one mis-step, musically or lyrically, on this record, and it possesses a beautiful unity of theme and texture. "Beneath the Southern Cross" is simply one of the finest, most moving songs I have ever heard - an acoustic guitar, two chords, and that voice. And that is all. A truly great album - one of her best, I think.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL RETURN OF THE MUSE, June 1, 2001

By 

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gone Again (Audio CD)

This brilliant 1996 return by Patti Smith 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.