Patti Smith - Horses

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

     

• Arista - AL 4066 (US) LP
• Arista - C 066-97.237 (France) LP
• Arista - ARTY 122 (UK) LP
• Simply Vinyl (S12) - SVLP 372 (UK) LP
• Arista - 2C 066 97237 LP
• Arista - 88697 15972 1 (Europe) LP
• Arista - 064-97 237 () LP
• Arista - 201 112 LP
• Arista - AL 4066 (US) LP
• Arista - 201 112 (Portugal) LP
• Capitol Records - AL 4066 (Canada) LP
• Arista - E 064-97 237 (Portugal) LP
• Arista Records - 3C 064 97237 (France) LP
• Jugoton - LSAR 70859 (Yugoslavia) LP
• Arista - 1C 062-97 237 (Germany) LP
• Ariola Eurodisc S.A. - I-201112 (Spain) LP

Images from Vinyl Releases of Horses

Tracks

• )   Gloria:
• A1.1)   In Excelsis Deo
• A1.2)   Gloria (Version)
• )   -
• A2)   Redondo Beach
• A3)   Birdland
• A4)   Free Money
• B1)   Kimberly
• B2)   Break It Up
• )   Land:
• B3.1)   Horses
• B3.2)   Land, Of A Thousand Dances
• B3.3)   La Mer (De)
• )   -
• B4)   Elegie

Track listing above is from Arista - AL 4066 (US) LP

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