The All-TIME 100 Albums: Horses by Patti Smith

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The All-TIME 100 Albums

55 of 101

By Josh Tyrangiel Published: November 13, 2006

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ALBUM: Horses

YEAR RELEASED: 1975 LABEL: Arista ARTIST: Patti Smith

TIME 100 ALBUMS PODCASTS

PODCAST: Welcome to the All-TIME 100 Albums - the musical compilations of the last half-century that need no introduction. That said, listen in below as music critics Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light introduce the list and talk about the top albums of the 1950s and '60s.

PODCAST: We know. Twenty-nine of the 100 greatest albums of all time come in the 1970s, and Pink Floyd isn't there. Play this podcast to learn why we picked the titles we did, and if you have something to say, tell us about it using the talkback link below.

PODCAST: Maybe it's a Sign O' The Times that you're listening to critics' audio recordings about great music, but this podcast about how we chose the best albums of the 1980s really is a Thriller. Give it a listen below.

PODCAST: Here's music even the younger set will know by heart. Listen to selected clips from the 1990s through present day as music critic Josh Tyrangiel discusses his picks.

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Because Smith was a poet before she was a singer... and John Cale of the Velvet Underground produced... and her lover Robert Mapplethorpe took the cover photo, Horses is often praised for fusing classical verse, feminism, punk and the avant-garde—which makes this epic debut sound like it belongs on a syllabus for a class few people would willingly take. In fact, it's a rock record of overwhelming power. For all her poetic skill, the album's most memorable words are its first: "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine." From there, Smith's voice—like a match dragging across the side of a matchbox just before it ignites—and unrelenting band (guitarist Lenny Kaye, pianist Richard Sohl, drummer Jay Dee Daugherty and bassist Ivan Kral) swagger through a complete reinvention of Van Morrison's Gloria and several nine minute volcanoes that feel far more romantic and revolutionary than any mere poetry.