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horses
Horses My God, this is pretentious! In fact, so pretentious that I at first doubted that I ever would be able to appreciate the work of Patti Smith. Whilst the music obviously is simple and the playing is raw, Smith�s supposed-to-shock beatnik poetry shouted into the microphone creates a sense of any sort of self-distance is missing and that she, and the band, are taking things way too seriously. The lyrics contrasted against the raw music doesn�t seem any less artistically overblown or pretentious (there�s that word again!) than the ego of any art critic or too complacent classical musician. It becomes obvious that there are equally much pretentiousness in celebrating the simple and small-scale as in the grand and bombastic. Think about it for a second. The Velvet Underground would probably also fit that statement. I can�t really explain, but after months and months with Patti�s albums, she finally breaks through. She gets to me. Not so much the poet in her, but the vocalist and the front man. The energy in the re-worked version of the Them-classic �Gloria� is suddenly irresistible. Not that it is the same song in the hands of Patti Smith as it was in the big Irishman�s original version. Basically only the chorus remains true to the original. Another cover is offered as a bonus track on the CD-version, a live version of The Who�s youth-anthem �My Generation�. A successful reading that wins because of its sheer raw, wild and sweaty punk-attitude. Things are arguably even better when the tempo is slowed down. The ballad �Elegies� and the first part of �Free Money� (which eventually turns into a rocker) sounds emotional. I probably haven�t spent half the time I should have trying to sort out the lyrics to fully understand them, but as I said, they sometimes are over the top and I prefer to just soak in the atmosphere of the songs. My favorite here probably is �Break It Up�. It starts slow and nice, but then is transformed into a much louder thing. The chorus is a perfect screaming, noise extravaganza. Then back to the silent verses. Excellent. No matter how much I do enjoy the stuff here, I still haven�t surrendered completely. The title track is one of those moments when it�s simply too much for me to take. Maybe not for you, though. I must point out the vocals. For some reason, Smith�s voice has been rumored to be an acquired taste. She�s no Celin� Dion, sure, but she sings with conviction. She never misses a note and her voice is a lot stronger and more powerful than given credit for. I don�t want to get into any feminism-debate here, but I guess it is less easy to accept a woman to be loud, unpolished and taking up space. Just a theory. Anyhow, the album was produced by John Cale, so maybe it�s not a coincidence that I mentioned the VU earlier. Despite its (obvious) difficulties, Horses is a good album, certainly original and I would�ve called it groundbreaking, had I only known anyone who followed the new path. Original will do for now.
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