philadelphia weekly review of gone again

[by Bruce Warren, Philadelphia Weekly, June 19, 1996]

* * * * * (5 stars = exceptional)

Patti Smith, the original riot grrrl and High Priestess of Punk Rock, has returned with an album of such emotional proportions that it's hard to imagine eight years have passed without a record from her. Gone Again isn't a comeback; it's a continuation of a unique force and vision in music that has few, if any, comparisons. Songs like "Beneath the Southern Cross," "About a Boy" and the title track carry lyrical emotional weight equal to the punch of the music. Still as mesmerizing as the days when you first heard her sing "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine" on her debut album, Horses, in 1975, Gone Again symbolizes the power and passion that has come to define the most important rock and roll.

Copyright © Bruce Warren 1996



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