By: Collin Fitzell ’27
There is so much music in this world. Throughout the hundreds of thousands of genres, there have been so many songs and albums released that it has gotten to the point where people have no idea what to listen to. Now, I understand what it is like not knowing what to listen to. I was once a common listener of The Weeknd and Imagine Dragons. While I will not give my opinion on these artists here, because both have redeeming qualities, in fact I still find myself going back to the earlier Weeknd records every so often, I have grown to broaden my horizons to other musical prospects.
Coming up with the idea of an album recommendation segment is not out of superiority. I understand that all people have different kinds of music that they resonate with, and I respect that. In no way am I trying to diminish your preference for the music that flows through your earbuds. All I am offering is a suggestion. If anything, this series should be a way to challenge your thinking, learn to try new things, and who knows, maybe you will find something you enjoy. Anyway, here is an in-depth look at Patti Smith’s album Horses.
Let’s start by setting the scene. It’s 1975, and you just visited the record store with your buddies to pick up some records to jam out to on your long weekend. In the new releases section, you see an album cover featuring a woman in black and white with a jacket slung over her shoulder. In this completely hypothetical situation, you pick up the record, go to the counter, check it out, and bring it home. When you arrive home, you set up the new black, shiny vinyl on the record player and listen as the needle scratches the grooves and produces a sound, a sound unlike anything you have ever heard before.
Ok, ok, enough exposition, I know, it was quite monotonous. But your ears would be blessed by a sound you have never heard before. The album is unapologetically raw. This makes it stand out as different because, in a time of grandiose rock tracks such as “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Hotel California,” finding something that was raw and stripped back, yet powerful, left a lasting impact on the listener.
While this is not a rock album that makes you want to bang your head and speed down a highway, it is softer than that and it possesses a quaint quality. This makes it a pivotal moment in rock music history, not because it is soft or anything like that, since there were plenty of soft ballads back then, but because Horses employs a style that is quite synonymous with the indie bands that are prevalent today. Aside from the likes of Nick Drake, not too many artists were experimenting with this sort of sound.
Where this album mainly differs is the fact that it is strange. It is hard to explain, but the album has some unconventional sounds and instrumentation that make it a good and entertaining listen. This album best suits fans of artists such as Neutral Milk Hotel, R.E.M., and even The Smashing Pumpkins, to a point. Truly, Patti Smith was way ahead of her time. I doubt she expected her album to be elevated to such a status and placed in such high regard today.
So, for any curious minds who want to dive into something new, try Horses by Patti Smith, released in 1975. Trust me.
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