Peace And Noise

About

Around the time of <i>Gone Again</i>—the 1996 album that marked her return to music—Patti Smith told a journalist that she’d expected her onstage persona to be different. After all, she was now a widow, raising two young kid. “I imagined that I would just be sort of straightforward and dignified and somewhat folky,” Smith said. But neither <i>Gone Again</i> nor its follow-up, 1997’s <i>Peace and Noise</i>, matched that expectation. <i>Peace and Noise</i> finds Smith settling confidently into her vocal, and there’s a strong connection with the musicians in the band—which makes sense, as the album finds her re-teaming with guitarist Lenny Kaye and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, both veterans of the Patti Smith Group day. Though the three musicians hadn’t played together on a regular basis for year, these were some of Smith’s most trusted peer. And though she’s perceived as a solo artist, she’s someone who’s always liked being part of a band—a team player who delights in being in a larger musical ensemble. More than half the songs on <i>Peace and Noise</i> were co-written with poet Oliver Ray, whom Smith had met via Allen Ginsberg. (When asked to describe Ray’s role in the band, Kaye simply said: “I like to listen to the way he hears thing.”) Ray was decades younger than the rest of the band, and helped bring in more modern sonic dynamics; as a result, there’s more space on <i>Peace and Noise</i>, which suits the material better, and allows Smith shine as a vocal interpreter of her own work. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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