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Product details

Audio CD (14 April 2007)
Number of Discs: 1
Format: CD
Label: Sony Music CMG
ASIN: B000NDEXIE
Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 10,875 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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Track Listings

1. Are You Experienced

2. 1983... A Merman I Should Turn To Be

3. Are You Experienced?/1983...A Merman I Should Turn To Be

4. Everybody Wants To Rule The World

5. Helpless

6. Gimme Shelter

7. Within You Without You

8. White Rabbit

9. Changing Of The Guards

10. The Boy In The Bubble

11. Soul Kitchen

12. Smells Like Teen Spirit

13. Midnight Rider

14. Pastime Paradise

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Both a stopgap release until Patti Smith writes another album's worth of material and a way to keep her name in front of the public after her highly publicized 2007 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this set of a dozen covers finds the singer/poet in an unusually reflective mode. Some of the sources are obvious for those familiar with Smith's influences (the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan), some less so (Paul Simon, Nirvana, Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young), and a few come out of left field (the Allman Brothers Band, Stevie Wonder, Tears for Fears). Smith's innate class and approach guarantees there's nothing awful here, but there also isn't much that stamps these versions with her own vision. She does little more than deliver the words in her unique spoken/sung voice and--except for adding a banjo and her own poetry to an acoustic "Smells Like Teen Spirit"--keeps the arrangements close to the originals. At times she seems distant from the material, running through the Doors' "Soul Kitchen" and Young's "Helpless" with an oddly soulless detachment. Likewise, her band seems to be on autopilot, playing with little emotional involvement or attempts to bring fresh interpretations to tunes that are, with the exception of Dylan's "Changing of the Guard," surprisingly unimaginative choices. Considering the raging and extreme overhaul Smith did on Van Morrison's "Gloria" and the Who's "My Generation" in her younger days, this quieter, gentler approach seems flaccid, even bland in comparison. --Hal Horowitz

Review

The covers album was, at one time, almost an obligatory part of an artist's career arc. From Bob Dylan to Bowie, every major icon has lined up to pay (sometimes dubious) 'tribute' to their heroes. For someone who wore her influences so boldly on her sleeve from the off, it's something of a mystery as to why it's taken Patti Smith so long to do it. Even more of a mystery to her fans may be her choice of songs to cover. Twelve - in turns revelatory, misjudged and even, in places, banal - is not all that it seems!

The entry point of Hendrix's 'Are You Experienced?' is a fine way to kick off proceedings; all military snare and raga madness. Smith's reading of 'Hey Joe' in all its three-chord punkiness always made sense, but this psychedelic musing is one of the album's lightbulb-over-the-head moments. Just as Television (whose Tom Verlaine makes an obligatory appearance here) used to joke that they split up on a full moon because Moby Grape did, Smith's position as elder stateswoman of punk always meant that her vintage was just as much 67 as 77. Nearly half of Twelve's tracks stem from the summer of love or its neighbourhood. And it's these tracks that work best.

Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit', with spooky spoken intro, pays homage to Smith's lineage as a descendant of Grace Slick's woman-as-rock-icon while her rendition of The Beatles' 'Within You Without You' sounds like it could have been written for her. Likewise Jimbo Morrison's 'Soul Kitchen': It seems that the hippy within never died, and thank goodness, because Patti's other choices can be a little challenging.

A reading of ''Gimme Shelter'' is surprisingly weak-kneed considering the fact that she carved a niche all of her own in the territory between Jagger and Dylan. And while Bob's 'Changing Of The Guards' (from the often overlooked Street Legal) is a little leftfield the versions of Tears For Fears' 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' and Paul Simon's 'Boy In The Bubble'' are downright perverse. If their sentiments have a universality, they're still essentially songs that should remain in their original states. The jury also remains out on her bluegrass appropriation of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.

So, a very mixed bag indeed which is a real shame as, when she hits the right territory, she really gives us an insight into her roots and also demonstrates a sensitivity that's impossible to resist. Twelve may have to remain an oddity in her canon, destined for selective downloading rather than a fully-formed experience. --Chris Jones

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

Understated brilliance 20 April 2007

By Kilgore

Format:Audio CD

I was intrigued by the idea of this covers album: Patti Smith's voice is so distinctive that I couldn't imagine how it might work with some of the songs selected. As others have said, the songs are (musically) quite faithful to the originals -- apart from Smells Like Teen Spirit. It's also more or less unadorned in terms of production. Patti's voice, however, makes the overall sound unique. My current favourite track is Everybody Wants To Rule The World -- a song I didn't like before now and could never imagine her covering. This album certainly isn't a new landmark in rock music, or full of musical fireworks...but it does have subtlety and an understated brilliance. Hopefully, it might also serve as an accessible introduction to her work for the curious.

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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

I know it's only covers 17 April 2007

By Jay-Pineapples

Format:Audio CD

I was disappointed to find that Patti's new album would be just cover versions of favourite songs until I heard it. However I really like this record, she has done very little to change the original songs, it is an homage after all but somehow she is able to remind us of how good this material really is. I don't think that I ever managed to listen to the lyrics of "Are you experienced" before now. Just look at the range of these songs, from Stevie Wonder to Nirvana via the Stones, and try to imagine another artist who could manage to do them all justice.

These are faithful renditions but unmistakably Patti at the same time and should encourage listeners to revisit the originals.

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

A lot better than you think its going to be ! 7 Jun 2007

By redando

Format:Audio CD

I was initially disappointed on hearing that Patti's new album would be all cover versions,surely the last artistic resort for someone whose muse has fled ?

However,on actually listening to the album it was a very pleasant surprise.The opening track , Jimi Hendrix's "Are You Experienced" is a revelation , dragging this song away from its 60s associations and bringing it bang up to date. That sets the tone for the rest of the record really with "Gimme Shelter","Teen Spirit",and "Soul Kitchen" being highlights.

There are some surprises , Tears For Fears , Paul Simon , Stevie Wonder and The Allman Bros Band not being artists you would normally align with Patti Smith.However these versions work because the songs and the interpretations are strong.I don't agree with previous reviewers who have said that the album lacks passion.

Patti Smith has always mixed cover versions with original material since Van Morrison's "Gloria" opened her first album.So my advice is to give it a listen and you won't regret it

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