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Review:
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I have this friend who is impossible to shop
for. You know the type: frugal, self-reliant, and a tad bit
finicky. He tends to throw out anything he doesn’t use, wear,
read, or eat on a regular basis, and his decorating style can
be unpredictable. Every year, I struggle to find the perfect
birthday present -- not too extravagant, not too big, not too
boring, not too sentimental, and certainly not a house-cluttering
knicknack. Our musical tastes are similar, but CDs are always
risky business. If he only likes one or two songs by an artist,
he will deem it a waste to buy the entire album. You know the
type.
But, this year, I knew months in advance what I’d get him for
his birthday thanks to Patti Smith. See, my friend is a huge
Smith fan (in fact, he helped turn me on to her), and he loves
“Greatest Hits” compilations. Land is a retrospective
anthology, but it includes more than just “Best of” songs. The
“collection,” for lack of a better term, has two CDs -- fan
favorites on disk one and Smith’s choices on disk two -- as
well as a sort of mini-scrapbook of her professional life. Packaged
in a simple black and white fold-out cardboard cover smaller
than most double-CD albums, Land’s presentation
is both moving and unostentatious. Photos line the box and fill
the mini-scrapbook: old and new shots of Smith and friends,
vintage concert flyers, manuscript pages, and more. Most poignant
is a short reflection by Smith at the end of the insert, beginning
with the horrors of The World Trade Center Bombing and ending
with quiet gratitude for her fans.
Musically, the collection varies; it is a journey that includes
the prerequisite standards, rare demo tracks, recent live recordings,
and even quirky unexpected covers. Disk one will be of less
interest to Smith collectors because it is a predictable re-release
of 17 tracks most requested by fans, moving from raw classics
like Dancing Barefoot and Rock N Roll Nigger to
her later, more melodic works like Glitter In Their Eyes.
The songs show Smith’s magnificent career and punctuate the
relevance of all her work, even 25 years later. It is a CD that
can be played over and over again without growing stale. But
it offers few surprises. Perhaps the most interesting track
is a cover of When Doves Cry that ends the disk, but
after the rich musical journey of the previous songs, this cover
somehow seems hollow and even unnecessary.
Disk two serves up better goodies for collectors, with 13 previously
unreleased recordings including demos of Piss Factory,
Redondo Beach, and Distant Fingers. All of the
live tracks were recorded in the past few years, except 25th
Floor (a powerful performance in Eugene, OR, 1978). But,
these songs also span Smith’s career: older pieces like Birdland
and newer tracks like Dead City and Boy Cried Wolf,
which features Smith’s recitation of William Blake’s Little
Lamb. Another surprise cover lurks at the end of the final
track, Notes to the Future when Smith sings The Sun
Will Come Out Tomorrow and dedicates it to her mother.
It is impossible to pass judgment on a body of work this enormous
and intense, but I can say this: I would have liked one or two
new originals. While the covers are whimsical and unexpected,
Land offers no hint about Smith’s musical direction
following the reflective Gung
Ho and little solace in the aftermath of 9/11. In
a time of political and spiritual uncertainty, I heed our leaders
in Washington less and less and increasingly seek voices of
artistic wisdom, comfort, and reflection like Smith. But, perhaps
that’s too much to ask of one person -- just a singer/poet/artist
with vision and passion. And for now at least, my friend and
I are blessed with black and white memories that march powerfully
over Land.
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