Gung Ho has Patti Smith imaging herself into several different political situations: in Vietnam, speaking for the stolen Africans in the Middle Passage, as Salome ordering the head of John the Baptist. What she manages to do with these situations is really something special, and a great testament to her talents as a poet and artist. She hasn’t been this full of piss-and-vinegar since Radio Ethio... read more
Description:Patti Smith's fourth album since her 1988 comeback vehicle Dream of Life finds the plugged-in poetess looking outward after the extended period of introspection that followed the death of her husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith. The scathing eight-minute-plus "Strange Messengers" illustrates Smith's renewed interest in thePatti Smith's fourth album since her 1988 comeback vehicle Dream of Life finds the plugged-in poetess looking outward after the extended period of introspection that followed the death of her husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith. The scathing eight-minute-plus "Strange Messengers" illustrates Smith's renewed interest in the world around her, as the streetwise New Yorker turned Midwestern suburbanite rails at crackheads ("That's how you repay your ancestors?"). Working with producer Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, Pixies) and fronting a quartet built around longtime lieutenants Lenny Kaye and Jay Dee Daugherty, Smith's music harkens back to the commercial apex of New Wave; indeed, "Gone Pie" sounds like the singer sitting in with Blondie. In fact, Gung Ho as a whole feels like the album the high-priestess of punk didn't make in the early '80s, a time when she was laying low and a number of artists inspired by her visionary early works were racking up MTV and modern-rock airtime. Gung Ho is somewhat muddled in execution, but then again, so are the times. --Steven Stolder... (more)(less)
Manufacturer : Arista Release date : 21 March 2000 Number of discs : 1 EAN: 0078221461825 UPC: 078221461825
"Boy Cried Wolf
"Well they drew him from the forest
Like they draw blood"
"Boy cried wolf
Wolf don't come
Wolf within"
"Calling to the moon but it don't answer"
"And the blood the blood the
sacramental blood"
"Slain the lamb that is himself
Torn reborn the cries of our dismay"
"
“Gung Ho has Patti Smith imaging herself into several different political situations: in Vietnam, speaking for the stolen Africans in the Middle Passage, as Salome ordering the head of John the Baptist. What she manages to do with these situations is really something special, and a great testament to her talents as a poet and artist. She hasn’t been this full of piss-and-vinegar since Radio Ethiopia, but she’s still managing to sound like the goddess of alternative rock that she is. While this isn’t as crazy as the folk-punk hybrid Gone Again, this is more like Easter – full of big and scary ideas for a mainstream album, but given enough of a polish to give the illusion of being easily accessible. The lone single, “Glitter in Their Eyes,” is an anti-materialism rant, and possibl” read more