Patti Smith Group - Radio Ethiopia

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2007. Album Description

Radio Ethiopia

Patti Smith Group-Radio Ethiopia *****


Nestled comfortably between the Patti Smith Groups emphamous debut album Horses and their third and most commercial and best selling third album Easter you find Radio Ethiopia. Radio Ethiopia is Patti's most honest and adventerious album to date.

For one reason or another Radio Ethiopia has been forgotten and labeled a failure and place in the delete bin next to Goats Head Soup from The Rolling Stones (which is another great album) but this is not the case. Once you can understand that Patti and the band are always trying new and different things then you can understand and appreciate this better. Yes I will say the album is often irratic but thats part of it's charm. Jumping from guitar and drum heavy rockers like 'Ask The Angels' the albums opener into a more mellow track such as 'Aint It Strange' may be a shock for some but it was only natural to keep things new and make the listener guess. Also this album gave Smith a chance to experiment with vocals and layering them in the recording making for an interesting listen each time.

My only complaint with this album is the title track, 'Radio Ethiopia.' as on the debut 'Horses' and the next release 'Easter' were all epic title tracks. Here Patti tried and almost nailed it but the poem and song seem to fall apart at the end of the song almost totally ruining the song. Starting of fantastic and only gaining power to ultametly crash and burn. If that was Patti and Lenny Kaye's plan then they succeeded but the point stands that what she was trying to achieve here was what she did acheive on Horses with 'Land' and she did not here.

True blue Smith fans almost always love this album but occasionaly this is concidered a blunder. Someone said to stay away from Radio Ethiopia when first getting into the group and I must dissagree, I think any of the groups first three albums are the best places to start, Horses, Radio Ethiopia, and Easter are all legendary and are the albums that made Patti the giant she is today. February 11, 2008

my first patti smith album

for as long as ive known, ive grown up listening to distinct, strong, female voices. my father constantly played fleetwood mac and lone justice and looking back it has obvious influenced my musical tastes. the most fascinating and dimensional music to me today lies in bands like the distillers, hole, etc. This is because it shows the way in which a woman can take hold of something crude, something broken and make it new. i thought this was a purely modern thing until my father gave me "radio ethiopia". i love it, and honestly, i have trouble drawing any comparison between patti smith and ani difranco or liz phair because i don't like either of them. i think that the musical direction of today is such a good indicator of the way in which smith was so ahead of her time. i mean, "ask the angels" was released in 1976, but it was covered by the distillers in 2000 and i beleive it is just as relevant.

so i guess radio ethiopia is for you if you want the raw power of iggy pop (one of my other favorites, by the way) with the howl of brody dalle. dig in. March 10, 2005

Radio Ethiopia

Smart, elegant, raw, pure, energy, power, shining, depth, grace, spirit, body, flesh, bones, earth, race, agonizing, despair, heartbreaking, squeak, elegy, life, ground, roots, leaves, perfection, high, languid, beauty.
All these words come through my mind while I think about "Radio Ethiopia". They might be excessive. Undoubtedly, they are not enough. April 23, 2004

The Best of the Lot

I have always considered this to be the BEST Patti Smith album of them all, rocking, wild, raw energy and rebellious spirit, decidedly uncommercial and I still go crazy when she does these tunes live.
This is one AWESOME cd. May 8, 2003

A funky, near death experience

Dark and strange, this is Patti Smith at her most intoxicated. Pass the peace pipe. I'm glad she took it in a different direction after Horses as that was an untouchable masterpiece. Death is everywhere on this dark opus. "Ask the angels, who they're calling." February 11, 2002

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