In some ways, singer/songwriter Patti Smith seems an unlikely choice for a full-bore anthology like Land (1975-2002). After all, she's had only one charting single with "Because the Night". Yet her influence on the fledgling NYC punk scene and as a protofeminist poet renders her something of an American counterculture icon. As such, Land serves to frame an uncompromising career spanning four decades.
Split over two discs and featuring 31 tracks and almost two-and-a-half hours of music, Land begins with a survey of Smith's studio albums, relying most heavily on 1978's Easter. All the greats are here--"Dancing Barefoot", "People Have the Power", "Gloria", "Frederick" and, of course, "Because the Night". There's also a newly recorded version of Prince's "When Doves Cry", one of two songs cut specifically for this collection.
The second disc is where fans--who were solicited for track selection input via gigs and the Internet--get the goods. Early demos, among them 1974's coveted "Piss Factory", plus two other pre-Horses recordings, "Redondo Beach" and "Distance Fingers", kick things off. What follows is a batch of previously unreleased live recordings--"Dead City", "Spell", "Boy Cried Wolf"--most captured during a 2001 tour through the US and Europe, and studio outtakes. Smith herself helped remaster the recordings while stacking the accompanying booklet with fans' photos and the like.
Disc: 1
1 Dancing Barefoot
2 Babelogue
3 Rock 'n' Roll Nigger
4 Gloria
5 Pissing In A River
6 Free Money
7 People Have The Power
8 Because The Night
9 Frederick
10 Summer Cannibals
11 Ghost Dance
12 Ain't It Strange
13 1959
14 Beneath The Southern Cross
15 Glitter In Their Eyes
16 Paths That Cross
17 When Doves Cry
Disc: 2
1 Piss Factory
2 Redondo Beach
3 Distant Fingers
4 25th Floor
5 Come Back Little Sheba
6 Wander I Go
7 Dead City
8 Spell
9 Wing
10 Boy Cried Wolf
11 Birdland
12 Higher Learning
13 Notes Of The Future
