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· Patti Smith
(We liked it and you will too!)

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Patti Smith
Trampin'
Columbia/Sony

Despite bidding us farewell on her 'Land' double compilation in 2002, Patti Smith has been called back to the service of rock'n'roll. Compelled by disgust with the Bush administration's policies, she has signed to a new label (which has allowed her full production control), taken her band into the studio and recorded 'Trampin' - "for the people."

This is a powerful record, addressing war and peace, love, loss, and spirituality. Aged fifty-seven, Smith is a wise woman: poet, mother, artist and wild singer, crooning and ranting at full-strength. While musically the songs are collaborations with the band and vary in pace and style, the lyrics are informed by Smith's reading and research. Inspired by William Blake, there's a song called My Blakean Year ("embrace all that you fear, for joy will conquer all despair") and she includes Blake's poem The Divine Image ("Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace") on her website (pattismith.net), as well as photos, opinion pieces and the lyrics for all the songs.

Oliver Ray and Lenny Kaye's guitar skills are evident and their tasteful lead lines wend in and out of the poetry. Smith's sixteen year old daughter Jesse plays keyboards on the title track (a Negro spiritual) and wrote the lyrics of Cartwheels ('the good whirl'). Jubilee is rousing rock/folk, celebrating Spring but acknowledging that civil liberties are being curtailed and all is not right with the people ("Oh my land, what be troublin' you?").

Radio Baghdad is an outstanding twelve-minute exploration of Iraq, celebrating the knowledge that Mesopotamian and Arab culture contributed to the West, including irrigation, science and the zero, and the shock of the US led invasion and its consequences ("they're robbing the cradle of civilisation"). It starts with the voices of Iraqi boys playing soccer and ends with a gentle plea for us to extend our hands.

Ghandi is about collective unity, evoking the non-violent activism of Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, urging citizens to revolt, or at least, vote. Smith's current US tour has tables set up with voter registration forms ("Get 'em with the numbers"). Smith is back with a vengeance and 'Trampin'' deserves to be listened to.

Suzy Ramone

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