I first listened to Patti Smith's Horses once in November or October of 2019; I had recently started an album list and I was more interesting in growing the list than giving the album much of a chance. So it remained on the list for several months without a second listen. Then, my art teacher recommended I listen to the debut album of the band Violent Femmes. I was mostly unimpressed by it, but the singing style immediately awoke in me an incredible craving for Smith and her debut. I fell in love with Horses that same day and it became one of my favorite albums I listened to 2020. If you want to get into Smith, I recommend listening to her debut, Radio Ethiopia, and Land, her greatest hits album. Despite nothing in her discography comparing to Horses, she has a consistently strong discography. As of 2022, she's the only artist on this blog with more than ten albums reviewed and none of them being graded C+ or lower.
Radio Ethiopia (1976): A-
Easter (1978): B
Wave (1979): B-
Dream of Life (1988): B
Gone Again (1996): B
Peace and Noise (1997): B-
Gung Ho (2000): B
Land (2002): A-
Trampin' (2004): B
Horses/Horses (2005): B-
Twelve (2007): B
Banga (2012): B-
Horses (1975):
With her background in beat poetry, she's pretty green to the rock world even if she loves the Rolling Stones. But it's the green that she and her band possess that's important. Which is where producer and madman John Cale comes in to help this maniac and her band to create an experimental soundscape to fit her twisted nightmares. A
Radio Ethiopia (1976):
Sure, Smith's band found their footing here, but their hard rock is the real treat here--the brief guitar solo in "Pissing in a River" is immaculate. Smith too has lost her some of her green and sounds like she's started adjusting her writing for the format of a regular song. But don't pretend like she lost her experimental touch--did you listen to "Radio Ethiopia"? A-
Easter (1978):
Moving into a more commercial lane, the album produced Smith's only hit single "Because the Night." And unfortunately besides that and "Godspeed," nothing here is on the same level as her past work. Most of the melodies are a little disappointing but the lyrics are strong and weird as usual. Notably, the infamous track here is the exact opposite: it's the instrumental peak, but the lyrics screw giving it a chance. B
Wave (1979):
Like Easter, there are two great songs here: "Frederick" and "Dancing Barefoot." There are certainly more interesting moments outside of this than on Easter like "Wave" and "Seven Ways of Going" at least grabs your attention, despite it being the worst song here. B-
Dream of Life (1988):
Gone are her experimental days for now, but she's wiser and more focused. Other than "People Have the Power," I doubt my ability to even hum any song here given its title, but this is definitely a good record. B
Gone Again (1996):
Another strong album from Smith and if you, like me, were worried after Dream of Life that she lost her experimental touch, fear not: she sings about cannibals here. B
Peace and Noise (1997):
Her backing band isn't nearly as good as on Dream of Life or Gone Again, although Lenny Kaye does have some good moments most notably on "Dead City." Lyrically, it's about the same as her past two albums and she even writes an epic, "Memento Mori," that doesn't look too bad next to her peak. "1959" doesn't either. B-
Gung Ho (2000):
Patti Smith continues to surprise me with the quality of her late career works. Each time I expect the next one to be dull or a failed experiment, but Smith keeps on treading on being the wacko poet she is. "Boy Who Cried Wolf" all the way to "Grateful" is fantastic stuff--great rock backing and interesting lyrics. Unfortunately, the opener "One Voice" and "Upright Come" are duds and Smith talks about fertilized lawns on "New Party," which is not the wacko side of Smith we want. B
Land (2002):
Since none of Smith's albums past Radio Ethiopia has a B+ or higher, I figured it's worth reviewing her greatest hits. The first disc nicely complies most of the best work of her career thus far. Disc two contains demos, outtakes, and live songs, and this will be of interest to Smith fans as it is the first place where live songs are available. Smith puts all her wacko energy into these live songs--even the more recent performances (2001)--and none of the demos or outtakes are at all hard to sit through. A-
Trampin' (2004):
Despite usually enjoying her long winded, artsy cuts, I haven't been able to get behind "Gandhi" and I still have reservations about "Radio Baghdad." Normally the lyrics are what carry her long cuts but on "Radio Baghdad" the strong instrumental cancels out lyrics like "to the zero, the perfect number/We invented zero and we mean nothing to you." Besides these two, however, Smith offers what she's offered ever since Dream of Life: pretty good rock. Lenny Kaye delivers some of his most distorted, obnoxious guitars leads on the upbeat songs and Smith hits the mark on about everything. B
Horses/Horses (2005):
Smith is crazy and she's really crazy on live albums, which works well for her. The extra verses on the classic songs from her debut strengthen them and "Land" may have its best and certainly its most wild interpretation here. I like all the cursing too. B-
Twelve (2007):
It's always great when someone like Smith does a covers album because you know she's gonna choose songs with good lyrics. She puts her heart and soul into the performances--sometimes to the slight detriment of the songs--and her emphatic voice enhances the stronger lyrics like "White Rabbit" and even the weaker lyrics like "Midnight Rider." As always, Lenny led a good to great backing too. B
Banga (2012):
Although the rock backing and melodies on this album are always strong, there isn't a single song that stands out as particularly excellent or ear-grabbing in 58 minutes. Without this, the album drags and drags. "April Fool" and "After the Gold Rush" are the best songs but the former is the second song and the latter is the last. B-