Horses [Original recording remastered]

Patti Smith | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 18, 1996)
• Original Release Date: 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B000002VQQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,113 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #4 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Proto Punk
  • #4 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > American Punk
  • #7 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Punk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On her 1975 debut, Smith was full of piss and vinegar, seriously interested in bringing together high art and low three-chord rock & roll. As a result, her free-form poetry meshes with covers of "Gloria" and "Land of a Thousand Dances," and the album centers on two long, highfalutin' pieces, including the three-part suite (warning! warning! art!) "Land." (The CD version appends a messy live take on The Who's "My Generation.") Led by Richard Sohl's piano, the arrangements don't exactly rock, and some of Smith's songwriting gets buried in its stylistic affectations (there's a great song under "Redondo Beach"'s fake reggae). But the point of Horses was Smith's persona of volume, cunning and exile, and it comes through distinctly. --Douglas Wolk

Product Description

German double vinyl LP repressing of the 1975 debut album by the New York poet and rocker. Arista. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Dropped Out of College for this Album, November 5, 2005

By 

Katherine McCarthy "kath e. miller" (Forest Hills, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Horses (Audio CD)

I saw Patti read poetry alone. I saw Patti & Lenny at St. Marks Church. I saw Patti, Lenny & Richard at Max's. I was there at her last gig at the Academy of Music before a long hiatus. I rejoiced at her comeback performance at the Ritz after Fred "Sonic" Smith's passing. I saw Patti so often she once told me at a CCNY poetry reading, "You've seen me more than my manager!" All that I love about rock & roll is embodied in "Horses." When I listen I hear the Shangrilas in her girl-group vocals. Early Stones with Brian Jones in her swagger. Hardly ever do poetry and 3-chord rock marry so seamlessly. When she intones, "Suddenly, Johnny, gets the feeling, he's surrounded by horses, horses, horses...do you know how to pony?" it still makes my heart beat faster. Patti Smith is the original Riot Grrrl. The first woman, after Grace Slick, to not be a "my man done left me" victim. She hit a home run out of the ballpark with this record, uneclipsed even 30 years later. I still listen to everything she records, and see her & the band as often as they play live. She set the bar high. It hasn't dated in all these years.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The One, September 28, 2000

By 

Russell Richardson (NYNYUSA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Horses (Audio CD)

I am 43. When I first heard this I was 20. It totally shocked me from the very first notes in a friend's bedroom, stayed with me over the years and is still - remarkably - my favourite album for its force, drive, beautiful melancholy sounds, strange poetry, like a door opening on something I never believed could exist until I heard and saw it, and full of a warm compassion for the listener that is absent on all of Patti's influences. I heard someone said that though she was openly influenced by the Stones, the Velvets and the Doors (and Dylan) she also managed to outdo them all... the album is all but perfect... did they resolve the mains hum buzz all through the original vinyl disc? And 'My Generation' (by coincidence my favourite single, from The Who) is scrappy but OK, but why oh why is 'Piss Factory' - one of her best songs from this era - not included? That's the only slight minus in this lovely re-issue. If you have never heard Patti Smith, just get this record and enjoy. A pure gift.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New York, New York!, July 28, 2000

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Horses (Audio CD)

Sheer intensity! One may hear hints of her in a few musicians, but there's only one Patty Smith. She set the standard, yet remains an original.

This is a concept CD, but the concept is musical, rather than lyrical. Beginning with the dissonant chords and long tonal lines of "GLORIA," Patty Smith goes on to punk-ture the rock landscape in about 43 minutes of tone poetry, screaming vocals and snarling guitar. It's the musical equivalent of "Howl."

A few songs, or fragments of songs, are somewhat melodic and playful, almost teasing. While these are "easier" and sound great, the CD is most notable for its shredding power, and the sound of the most original female voice in rock. Great support on guitar and drums. Intense and poetic, yet somehow unaffected and sincere, she makes the spoken/sung lyric not only compelling, but credible.

In many songs it sounds like the rhythm might slip out from under the vocals and go on in an entirely different direction. There's something going on here! Beautifully recorded and mixed, the voicings are distinct, both melodic and dissonant. Someone may observe these days, "that's been done before." It probably has--by Patty Smith. Highly recommended.