I knew nothing of Patti Smith until Because The Night and I saw her at Reading Festival in 1978. I remember feeling disappointed at the high poetry:music ratio, but in my defence, I was young and foolish. While I subsequently warmed to Patti Smith, and understood where she was coming from, I certainly wasn't ready for her debut, Horses in 1975.
It opens with Gloria ("Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine" - contender for the finest opening line of an album), a glorious assault on the ears, then down a notch for the fantastic reggae tune Redondo Beach. Birdland is an intense, compelling, extended spoken/sung piece, over a sparse piano, with haunting feedback guitar in the background, and this slides into the more upbeat Free Money.
Kimberley opens the second half, a lovely, easy to listen to song, followed by the slower Break It Up, almost a power ballad? Then it's the main course for this half, a second extended piece, Land, Smith's poetry and a strong rock backing making this, while not an easy listen, a rewarding one. The original LP ends quietly, with the slower, piano accompanied Elegie, but the CD includes a very sweary version of My Generation, the B side of the Gloria single. I'm not sure it works straight after the calm of Elegie, and I think I prefer the album as a whole piece, without it.
4* - a wonderful debut, which melds Smith's poetry and delivery with the cutting edge of New York punk.
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