Rating: NNNNN
How do you improve on a classic like the Patti Smith Group’s stunning debut, Horses? Well, it’s not easy to top a record that helped define the emerging punk generation, but god knows, Smith is always up for a challenge. To mark the 30th anniversary of Horses, the digitally remastered original album is accompanied by a second disc featuring a stellar song-by-song live performance of Horses recorded by the Patti Smith Group — bolstered by Tom Verlaine and Flea — earlier this year at London’s Royal Festival Hall. With Smith back up to peak performing power, this doesn’t sound like a bunch of ancient rockers on a nostalgia trip. She brings 30 years of hindsight and a decade of pent-up moral outrage to the material, which she attacks with a righteous fury. It ends with a charged-up blast through The Who’s My Generation (lyrics changed to ‘I’m gonna live before I get old’), with Smith reminding the audience of her own generation’s failings (‘We had dreams — and we fucking created George Bush!’) before screaming a clarion call to action: ‘New generations, rise up! Take the streets! The world is yours, change it!’ Right on.
