Original Album Classics

patti smith best works energetic meaningful and emotional fueled

Had Patti Smith's first three vinyl albums back in the 70s, I didn't really follow her after that, assuming (from what I'd heard of "Wave") that her later albums would not have the same brilliance as the first three. This box set gave me the opportunity to get the first albums on CD (with extra tracks) as well as "Wave" and "Dream of Life", which I'd not heard at all. "Horses" of course is a classic, I bought it back in 1977 and hearing it again on CD it is as exciting and fresh as back then. "Radio Ethiopia" is also a classic, and I prefer it to "Horses", being a bit harder and punkier. It was great to hear "Easter" again too, a beautiful album, though not quite the classic as the previous two. "Wave" for me is the weakest album in this box set, but has some good tracks. It was great to hear "Dream of Life" for the first time, it has some really beautiful songs, and it prompted me to buy some of her later albums. The extra tracks are a bit of a mixed bunch, but I particularly like "Godspeed", which if I rememeber right was the b side of "Because the Night". "Dream of Life" has some great extra tracks too. Well worth a tenner to get so much excellent music.

Gloria + Horses from Horses + Pissing in a River from Radio Ethiopia : the Bad Girl of RockBecause The Night from Easter + Frederick + Dancing Barefoot from Wave : the Bad Girl becomes the High PriestessPeople Have The Power from Dream of Life : The High Priestess of Rock becomes Earth Motherhear Her : for She is blessed among Women

-then I'd recommend the brilliant 2CD compilation Land which has more than its fair share of overlap with this 5CD set. I was playing Land quite recently when I happened to come across this repackaging of her first five albums (though there's a ten year gap between the fourth and fifth, with the first four being records 1975-79).And I bought it because there's more than enough good stuff to make it worth acquiring the set, plus there's a total of 7 unreleased or hard to get tracks spread among them. That these five albums come at an extremely reasonable price, like most of the excellent Original Album Classics series do, make it an irresistible purchase. Patti Smith is a crazy quirky pretentious intellectual genius weirdo and lots more adjectives to denote her eclecticism. She isn't the world's greatest singer, though she can sing, with a voice that's once heard is never forgotten.Like all the others in the OAC series, the five CDs are packaged in card replicas of their original sleeves and fitted within a slim cardboard box. No additional notes or overview but you can easily get that on All-Music Guide. If you're into rock/punk/new wave/avante-garde music of the 70's, this is unmissable.

Patti Smith's first five albums on CD for a great price! What is not to like? If you are new to Patti Smith and her music (as I am) then this is a great way to be introduced to her. Includes her first ground breaking album "Horses", although I do not think this is her best, try "Easter" with the Bruce Springsteen collaboration "Because The Night" on it or the excellent "Dream Of Life" which has the track "People Have The Power" on it.

I came to Patti Smith a bit late in the day after reading "Just Kids". I bought "Horses" on vinyl, mostly for the Mapplethorpe photo! Enjoyed the music and thought I'd investigate her earlier albums after reading the reviews. I'm not disappointed.Recommended.

OK, the first most obvious point "you get what you pay for", it is bare-bones packaging, there are no additional photographs or cover notes or biographical notes just the most important element of Patti Smith the first five albums, which sound absolutely brilliant. So if you are replacing that badly scratched vinyl or just wanting to hear more from this remarkable artist go no further than this box set. Absolutely brilliant. You could purchase the collection Land but when this box-set is such good value and covers arguably the best albums why bother?

Good value for money and this type of 5 in a box sets are very space saving as they take the same amount of shelf space as one CD in a plastic case.