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Gung Ho Patti Smith Arista, 2000
Buy it online
Tracks 1: One
Voice
Reviewed by Claude Lalumière
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The 1980s weren't good to rock 'n' roll music. John Lennon was brutally murdered, leaving an embarrassingly sappy MOR album as his last musical statement. Nobody understood what the hell Neil Young was up to for most of the decade (and probably no one ever will). Led Zeppelin's drummer died and, since the band's last few albums hadn't been so good anyway, they wisely decided call it quits. Iggy Pop kicked drugs and no one cared. The Rolling Stones had become a bad self-parody. Heavy metal was perverting rock 'n' roll's rebel groove with pompous, posturing hatred and violence. Punk bands were proving over and over that most of them couldn't begin to match the intensity of the spiritual parents of hard-assed take-no-bullshit rock 'n' roll, the Stooges and Patti Smith. And, in 1988, Patti Smith sadly proved that she, also, couldn't hold a candle to her own rock 'n' roll legend when, after a decade of silence, she released Dream of Life, a likable pop rock album if you managed to ignore that it was supposed to be music by the mother goddess of punk. There was a lot of good, even great, music in the 80s, but very little of it could honestly be called rock 'n' roll. Fast forward to 1996: after another eight years of silence, in the wake of harrowing personal tragedy, Patti Smith returned to music. Her comeback album, Gone Again, was a critical success and deservedly so. Deeply personal and imbued with a heartbreaking sense of loss, yet possessed with a fiery spirit and filled with powerful songs. The following year, the reborn mother goddess released yet another album, Peace and Noise: a relentless assault of pure rock 'n' roll groove. Clearly, Patti Smith was here to stay. Or was she? Fast forward again: in 2000, Smith releases Gung Ho, a likable pop rock album, etc.... Gung Ho, like most studio albums, is overproduced. Nevertheless, it's not a bad album. But.... this is Patti Smith. The no-bullshit rock 'n' roll conceptualist par excellence who has repeatedly broken down rock 'n' roll to its essence and vigorously reinterpreted it in all its raw glory. Not bad isn't good enough. Gung Ho, more than a little reminiscent of Dream of Life, just doesn't rock like it should. The tunes are catchy -- very catchy, actually. Smith is in fine vocal form and surrounded by her usual cohorts. Had the producer, Gil Norton, better grasped Smith's music, Gung Ho could have been a much more memorable outing. It should have been. The production is definitely the biggest problem. I can't shake the impression that Smith's music is being packaged and boxed in. The vocals and the music sound like they're worlds apart instead of forming an organic whole as in Smith's previous two albums and her four 1970s classics; the group is made to sound like a backup band instead of being an integral part of Smith's performance. Gung Ho is a producer's album, not a performer's. That, more than anything, is what holds the music back, gives the illusion that it's all too comfortable in its straitjacket. So yeah, Gung Ho is a fine pop
rock album. But many of those come out every year and then
are instantly forgotten. Patti Smith has the talent and the
vision to push rock 'n' roll further and further while
keeping it true to its rebellious roar. She can make music
that screams to be remembered and revisited. Anything
less... well, it just ain't rock 'n' roll. | May
2000 |
The tunes are catchy -- very catchy, actually. Smith is in fine vocal form and surrounded by her usual cohorts. Had the producer, Gil Norton, better grasped Smith's music, Gung Ho could have been a much more memorable outing. It should have been. |
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