Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Patti's Most Underrated Piece of Genious..., April 16, 2001
I remember when this album came out, it was a critical disaster. Thinking that it would be impossible to follow-up the revolutionary "Horses" lp, critics seemed to had buried "Radio Ethiopia" in the pit of sophmore slump before they even listened to it. When they did listen to it, they said things to the effect of how erratic the music was, how vulgar and uninspired the lyrics were, and how Patti's band was pulling her artistic vision down the toilet. The truth of the matter is, "Radio Ethiopia" is on of Patti Smith's most experimental pieces of music she has ever produced in her ingenious career. What this album does is take the complexity and experimentation of the vocal poetry of "Horses" and infuses it into the sound. While the first track "Ask the Angels" starts of amazingly enough, the heart of "RE" kicks in with the furious "Aint It Strange" which blatently challenges god to fight the energy of rock n roll (side note: Patti Smith broke her neck spinning off a stage while singing this song). "Poppies" rolls in slick and cool, but then comes "Pissing In A River", which remains a rock classic (and one of my favorite songs ever). "Pumping..." like "Ask the Angels" is an awesome piece of work, but not as inspired as the rest of the album. "Distant Fingers" is fantastic, and "Radio Ethiopia"/"Abbyssinia" is an out of body experienc in itself. While this album has nothing on "Horses", it still is a classic piece of work. Get "Horses" first, then this one, then Easter, and you'll have three of the greatest albums ever made.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best of the Lot, May 8, 2003
I have always considered this to be the BEST Patti Smith album of them all, rocking, wild, raw energy and rebellious spirit, decidedly uncommercial and I still go crazy when she does these tunes live.
This is one AWESOME cd.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a major statement from a rock'n'roll visionary, August 8, 1999
By A Customer
This album is so underrated that I actually feel a little protective of it, like it was a wounded bird, or the short kid who everyone picked on in third grade.While "Ask the Angels" and "Pumping (My Heart)" are straight-ahead rock'n'roll songs (brilliant ones, at that), I don't understand how anyone can conceive of the rest of the songs as 'commercial': The opiated explorations of "Poppies" and "Ain't It Strange" move me like no other music I know; "Pissing in the River" rips my heart out everytime I hear it; "Distant Fingers" is improbably delicate and lovely for a song about UFOs; and on the assaultive "Radio Ethiopia/Abyssinia," she uses her voice like a free jazz soloist. (The dreamy, seductive "Chicklet" makes a great bonus track.) It's not as cohesive an album as "Horses", but "Radio Ethiopia" expanded the band's sonic palette and remains a profoundly trippy, noisy and sexy record.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Radio Ethiopia
Smart, elegant, raw, pure, energy, power, shining, depth, grace, spirit, body, flesh, bones, earth, race, agonizing, despair, heartbreaking, squeak, elegy, life, ground, roots,...
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Published on April 23, 2004 by Marco Tognato
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Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
by Patti Smith Group 
