CD Odyssey Disc 1803: Patti Smith

Due to inclement weather, I rode the bus to work most of this week. Asa a result, I got in lots of extra music listening time, including this uneven but occasionally brilliant gem of yesteryear.

Disc 1803 is…Radio Ethiopia

Artist: Patti Smith Group

Year of Release: 1976

What’s up with the Cover? Patti sits on the floor, looking amped up and apprehensive.

Are you feeling amped up and apprehensive? Listening to his album may give voice to that feeling. That could be good, or you could opt for a spot of hot tea to calm your nerves. Not everyone is up for the fully immersed ‘life-as-art’ experience that Patti Smith inhabits.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila bought me a couple of Patti Smith albums as a gift many years ago (“Easter” and “Horses”). This got me hooked and a while later I found a five-album set that included both of those, plus three others. One of the three others was “Radio Ethiopia”.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Patt Smith albums. They’re all good, but one of them had to be last and it is going to be “Radio Ethiopia”. This is the last review of my Patti Smith collection, so as tradition dictates, here’s a recap:

1. Easter: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 1368)
2. Horses: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 915)
3. Wave: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1144)
4. Dream of Life: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1037)
5. Radio Ethiopia: 3 stars (reviewed right here)

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

“Radio Ethiopia” is a wildly inconsistent record, where both the good and the bad are equally fuelled by Patti Smith’s uncompromising and wholly immersive approach to art and music. Or to put it colloquially, she does what she feels like doing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Of all my Patti Smith albums it is easily the least accessible. If you are looking for a radio single, you will be looking in vain. This is a “I do whatever I want any old time” kind of record, fuelled by an artistic vision so deeply lodged in the now that it had me doubting that even Smith knows where things are going to go on any given track.

The opening track, “Ask the Angels” is about as straight as it is gonna get, with a bit of metallic punk guitar and a vocal performance that – like everything Smith has ever done – is all-in. That deep throaty voice, caterwauling across the song’s melody is what makes Smith so amazing. She fully immerses herself in the music in a way that few artists can match.

This is a vibe that Yoko Ono consistently attempted to land with all her irritating yips and growls, without success (sorry, not sorry, Yoko apologists). Smith shows how awe-inspiring it can be when you shed all pretention and just do it. To do that and make it work takes a whole lot of talent, of course.

OK, first straight up rock song out of they way, is it? Let’s descend a bit further into the weird. “Ain’t It Strange” starts out with a very cool bit of guitar that sets an eerie, otherworldly tone that is made flesh by the various other instruments that come in behind it (including Smith’s vocals, of course). This is not a dance song, except maybe around a bonfire with a bunch of folks painted in Dayglo. I imagine the dancers were prepping for an orgy they forget to have, instead running off into the woods amid growls and guttural screams. Not what you expected? That’s how strange works. Next time, stay on the trail.

From here “Radio Ethiopia” wanders pretty fucking far from the trail. The record doubles down on moody, weird, otherworldly sounds. Cthulhu himself would be proud. The result is some great songs and some others that should have been left in the studio as late-night outtakes: fun to record, but not for sharing outside of those in on the joke.

For the most part I like this acid rock sounding stuff, so I was inclined to forgive the record its lesser efforts. And I would’ve, too, if it weren’t for a couple behemoths. “Poppies” (seven minutes) and “Radio Ethiopia – Live” (ten minutes) are just too damn long to be that unstructured. It was like a great trip at the beginning, followed by a strung-out feeling accompanied by a tension headache as things dragged on.

I’ll end on a high note with a reference to “Distant Fingers,” which is co-written by Blue Oyster Cult keyboardist Allen Lanier. Lanier dated Smith and they made some cool music together for both their respective bands. “Distant Fingers” isn’t their finest collaboration (that would be “Fire of Unknown Origin”) but it has a gentle and mysterious sway that lands dead centre between the two artists’ styles. It blends old school rock crooning with the proto-punk sounds of Smith. The mix is not for everyone, but I like it.

This record has 4-star potential, but at critical moments it can’t reign itself in, falling just a hair short of excellence.

Best tracks: Ask the Angels, Ain’t It Strange, Pissing in a River, Distant Fingers