All My Love (28 Original Mono Recordings 1948-1952) - Patti Page

Advantages: 61 Tracks covering a wide genre of music spanning 4 decades
Disadvantages: Takes a while to get going

.... Suspect Device - Stiff Little Fingers 3. Going Underground - Jam 4. Turning Japanese - Vapors 5. Kiss Me Deadly - Generation X 6. Brass In Pocket - Pretenders 7. On My Radio - Selecter 8. Mirror In The Bathroom - Beat 9. One Step Beyond - Madness 10. Special Brew - Bad Manners 11. Ghost Town - Specials 12. Lovecats - Cure 13. Psycho Killer (live) - Talking Heads 14. Tour De France (radio version) - Kraftwerk 15. Buffalo Gals - Malcolm McLaren 16. Blue Monday (original 12" version) - New Order 17. Back Of Love - Echo & The Bunnymen 18. Walk Out To Winter - Aztec Camera 19. Just Like Honey - Jesus & Mary Chain 20. Sign 'O' The Times - Prince 21. Atmosphere - Joy Division CD3 This disc covers a wide range of genres including the Madchester era and Britpop. All in all there is some pretty decent stuff on this disc including some... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...loved into a musical form. In doing this she also wanted to reflect the feeling that existed at the time amongst musicians and young people generally, so a political dimension also had to be integrated in to the music From the very first line of the very first song 'Gloria' on this record we know where Patti Smith is coming from. "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine" This one line seems to vocalize the angst and aggression that later was to be transformed in to the nihilism of the English punk movement. 'Gloria' had been covered by Van Morrison when he was the lead singer of Them in the mid 60's and also by The Doors a few years later. Both these versions were filled with sexual energy but Patti Smith's version (both lyrics and musical arrangement were subtly changed) made an even greater impact firstly because a woman... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Too few to mention
Disadvantages: Overlong, Arty, Precious

...’ve listened to it maybe five times in full now, which is ample time for it to have grown on me. Personally I fail to see why it is heralded as being an all-time great. Musically it isn’t groundbreaking, lyrically it is often arty and self-serving. The album creates no real tension or atmosphere and fails to capitalise on the odd decent moment (normally a section within a track rather than a track in full). "Horses" sits firmly on the borderline between preciousness and smug. Patti’s backing band are unimpressive in the main and John Cale isn’t able to paper over the worryingly large cracks. All in all this is one to miss, but then again I’ve got to acknowledge that many critically acclaimed songwriters and musicians love this album, so it must be an all or nothing experience. To my mind Patti Smith’s best performance on record is her co... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful