| Smith, Patti / Outside Society |
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| Album: | Outside Society | Collection: | General | |
| Artist: | Smith, Patti | Added: | Nov 2011 | |
| Label: | Arista Records (Modern) | |||
| A-File Activity |
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| Add Date: | 2012-03-10 | Pull Date: | 2012-05-12 |
| Week Ending: | May 6 | Apr 29 | Apr 22 | Apr 15 | Apr 8 | Mar 25 | Mar 18 | Mar 11 |
| Airplays: | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Sep 10, 2022: | Hanging In The Bone Yard Dancing Barefoot | 4. | Jan 19, 2018: | Traditions - Women's March Edition People Have The Power | |
| 2. | Feb 08, 2022: | Butter in the Pan Gloria | 5. | May 18, 2016: | The Foundation Gloria | |
| 3. | Jun 15, 2018: | KZSU Time Traveler Because The Night | 6. | Jul 01, 2014: | Meow Pissing In A River |
| Album Review |
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| Be Sharp Reviewed 2012-03-03 | ||
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Hard to believe this is Smith’s first one-disc compilation album. (A 2-CD package, “Land” (2002), added outtakes and demos.) One hopes this introduces the punk pioneer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer to a new audience. A chronological sampling of 10 studio albums, rather than a “best of” per se, results in some head-scratcher choices: No “Redondo Beach”?! FCC: stay away from track #6 1 *** G.L.O.R.I.A. Starts slow; builds to furious velocity and emotion. Rework of Van Morrison hit, filled with hipster ennui, blasphemy, sexual desire & badass rebellion. (5:53) 2 *** Starts slow, shifts to fast, then super fast. Youthful optimism: we don’t have money, but we’ve got each other. Sheer genius on rhythm guitar. (3:50) 3 **** Mid tempo. Guitar transcends; drums shred. Primitive & animistic, like a tribal fertility dance till she’s possessed by spirits. If Stravinsky wrote a rock song. (6:35) 4 **** Slow. Starts with just piano and voice. Add organ, drums, male voice. Then add blistering lead guitar. Stays slow but builds in power and intensity. If Mahler wrote a rock song. (4:51) 5 ** Mid tempo. Her most radio-friendly song, co-written w Springsteen, is very well known and has been covered by others. Classic rock rather than punk with more polished singing. (3:23) 6 FCC: fuck, whore, nigger. Equal parts beat-poetry reading, punk-rock onslaught, and nuclear explosion. This might be **** but you can’t play it. (4:52) 7 *** Mid tempo. Love song: obsessive, intense, mystical, desperate. She sings in a low, trancelike voice. In a second vox track, she recites poetry over the singing. (4:17) 8 *** Mid tempo. Love letter to future husband. Almost pop w hummable melody, sung in higher, more attractive register. Guitars take a breather to let keyboards carry load. (3:02) 9 * Garage-band cover of Byrd’s hit. Sung slower & lower than McGuinn. In fact the pace drags a bit. Guitar solo is faithful to the original. Drummer bangs awfully hard. (4:19) 10 *** Fast. A loud, inspiring, clenched-fist-in-the-air political anthem, with rhythm guitar, wall-of-sound organ, an avalanche of drumming, and terrific singing. (5:07) 11 *** Fast. Loud. Cryptic lyrics include religious symbolism, references to Warhol & Mondrian. More lead guitar than in most tracks. Powerful singing; angry at times. (4:49) 12 * Mid-tempo. Sort of folk-rock feel. Odd, disquieting travelogue lyrics. (4:35) 13 Mid-tempo. Very strange song. Combines Dylan-esque story telling with B-52s goofiness. In the end, it comes across as a silly novelty song. (4:09) 14 ** Mid fast. Political folk-rock about 1959 Tibetan uprising. Instrumental bridge with several guitars is quite good. (3:58) 15 *** Fast. Loud. Protest against corporate greed and power, with references to the 1999 WTO demonstrations in Seattle. Returns almost to the power of the early stuff. (3:03) 16 * Mid tempo. Seduction in some exotic place, long ago. Interesting and unusual. (4:19) 17 Mid slow. Unplugged, countrified (banjo, fiddle) remake of Nirvana song. Yawn. (5:49) 18 Slow. Vox accompanied only by piano. An old “Sweet Chariot”-style spiritual. The effort and intent are laudable, but her voice just doesn’t suit this. (2:52) | ||
| Track Listing |
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