Gung Ho

At her best, Patti Smith’s recordings possess an emotional ferocity, visceral intensity, and intellectual insightfulness that combine to make her one of the most unique recording artists of our era. But now and then she lacks focus. RADIO ETHIOPIA has some spectacular selections, but it is half extraordinary, half self-indulgent. WAVE has some of Smith’s most beautiful recordings, but it is an extremely uneven collection. And then there is GUNG HO, which, as one reviewer astutely said, sounds like the album Patti Smith should have made in the 1980s but didn’t.It has taken me a long time to like GUNG HO even in part, and it is hard to say what the central problem is. The album opens reasonably well with “One Voice,” but then goes onto shaky ground with “Lo and Beholden,” in which Smith posits herself as Salome. I wasn’t sure if it was funny or serious, and indeed I’m still not.Fortunately, “They Boy Cried Wolf” is very much Patti Smith, and while “Persuasion” and “Gone Pie” are very 1980s sounding—“Gone Pie” actually sounds like something Blondie might have done—they are pretty sharp and pretty interesting. So too is “China Bird,” an elegant ballad. Then comes “Glitter In Their Eyes,” which earned Smith an unexpected Grammy nomination. Again, it has a very 1980s quality, in this instance off-set with a combination of sarcasm and acidity. “Strange Messengers” is a hypnotic, compelling take on slavery that tends to undercut itself toward the end, but it is very strong nonetheless.“Grateful” is classic Patti Smith, darkly chiming, elegant but strange. But thereafter GUNG HO promptly falls apart. “Upright Come” is solid, but not remarkable, and “New Party” is an absolute disaster, a half-sampling, half-rap snap at politics that is so bad it is downright embarrassing. “Libby’s Song” is a brilliant piece concerning Libby Custer, widow of the famous (and infamous) Col. Custer, but it sounds incredibly out of place, as if it belongs to a different album. And then there is the title track, “Gung Ho,” a riff on Vietnam that would be better titled “Ho Hum.”Even for a Patti Smith album, GUNG HO is uneven, but it really seems to me that being uneven isn’t the problem; it is the combination of unevenness and unexpected commerciality. Yes, that’s it. This 1990s album sounds like a 1980s bid for commercial success, and while it has some great pieces, a big chunk of it uninspired rubbish.GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Patti Smith was one of the unsung heroes of the brief but refreshing New Wave era that just faded into rocknroll lore. She vanished from the public eye after air play for her kind of music and Arista records pulled the plug on her recording contract by deciding not to resign her. She has recorded off and on since then, putting out some great songs.Gung Ho is a great CD,very reminiscent of Radio Ethiopia with plenty of jamming and sprawling songs to get lost in. Highly reccomended.

Inspired, powerful, magnetic, brilliant, poignant, personal: this collection of poetic songs are all of the above and more. Patti's band is in perfect form, and they accentuate her intelligent, bull's-eye lyrics with passion and punch.This album is meant to inspire us Little Guys to take heart and take action. Patti's fight is for honesty and salvation, and there are few recent rock albums which fight the good fight with such potency.If you love Patti's previous work, you will love this album.

Unlike the phony marketers criticized in "Glitter in their Eyes," this recording is the real deal. Unlike the many women in music who are left on the marketing heap once they reach a certain age, Patti Smith continues to amaze, to be relevant.The music here is strong and polished throughout. The number of great songs is phenomenal. The one that many won't take a liking to is the title song, the last song, but it, too, has a powerful message."Gung Ho" and "Libbie's Song" seems to be (or so I imagine) about the loss of her brother in Vietnam. How appropriate and personal they are as we speak these days of war.

If you allow yourself to be hypnotized by the self-appointed "superior music critics", then you will miss enjoying this great album. Don't submit to their insights: they're just subjective impressions driven by their psychic needs. They always slobber after music that helps them fill some need or yearning. If an artist releases an album that does not heal that pimple of hurt or that suspicion of inferiority, then they use their "sophisticated" intelligence to smash it. They are always so disappointed or disillusioned. They generously point out the mistakes made by the artist. They seem to declare: "Next time this 'nobody' releases an album worthy of my attention and judgement I might deign to praise it." Ignore these great ones and buy Gung Ho by Patti Smith, because every nuance and note on this CD is touched by complexity. Gently, without hoopla, Patti explores many of the themes that perplex us ordinary monkeys. It is amazing how critics tuned to one artistic exploration by Patti moan and groan when she veers elsewhere. But these are the very critics that would scream if she dared to repeat Horses. Bob Dylan has been praised for retreating back to simple, unadorned music that touches the human need for temporary wisdom amid the chaos of existence. This is what older artists have done for generations. But when Patti does it, then the supercillious powder puffed connoisseurs emerge to carve her work as if it were a dish served for their "superior" judgement. Play this album at least five times and its quality will shine. In my humble opinion this is one of Patti's great recent albums, all the more stunning and amazing than her youthful attacks of flaming beauty. The fact that none of her recent albums have featured in any best of 90s or 00s lists, is a belly laugh. She has never been better. Gung Ho is an album constructed with care and grace, with music that will glow in your dreams and sneak through walls as you earn your dollars.