'Horses'

What a load of crap.

Music fans perpetually hear about certain albums that "changed" things and set forth some kind of movement or force that we always seem to relate two a generation in the future. You don't listen to, say, "Horses," but you probably enjoy a dozen or so bands that were influenced by "Horses."

All "Horses" out is a series of disjointed "punk" songs about nothing amid a bunch of screams, wails and caterwauling from Patti Smith, an apparent intellectual take on rock 'n' roll. Intellectual, my ass.

Ernest Hemingway's more punk. Thelonious Monk's more punk. That's not intellectual or some kind of statement. It's noise and unpleasant noise at that. There is a definite difference between this and an abstract painting because at the most basic, academic level a painting is still beautiful. Colors still evoke even the most primary of emotions.

"Horses" is a gnashing of teeth and a fight against writing a good song and sharing it with the world.