Patti Smith

Steve Stockman 7-17-2012
Patti Smith. Photo by Angelo Cricchi via PattiSmith.net.

Patti Smith. Photo by Angelo Cricchi via PattiSmith.net.

"Oh Lord let me die on the back of adventure/ With a brush and an eye full of light."

These lines from the 10-minute "Constantine’s Dream" sum up Banga — the latest album from musical iconoclast Patti Smith — even as they aptly describe the career of CBGB's Queen of Punk.

For the better part of four decades, Smith has been all about adventure. The brush is a symbol of her broad artistic canvas (she sees herself more a poet than a musician, as well as an author and photographer), and she’s ever in pursuit of what the best rock music always is interested in – light, truth and better world.

Smith's “Oh Lord” at the start of that line is no accident, it would appear. This album particularly is full of God and religious images. The song "Constantine's Dream" finds Smith on pilgrimage to Assisi, following in the footsteps of St. Francis.

Cathleen Falsani 11-16-2011
Ǎhk-Toong Bāy-Bi Covered

Ǎhk-Toong Bāy-Bi Covered

The band may be taking a well-deserved break from touring and recording, but U2 fans still have a new album to relish just in time for Thanksgiving.

Ǎhk-Toong Bāy-Bi Covered  features cover versions of U2's famed 1991 album Achtung Baby featuring renditions by Snow Patrol, The Fray,  Patti Smith, Damien Rice, Depeche Mode, Jack White, The Killers and others.

And all proceeds from the album's sales will go to help some of the estimated 13.3 million Africans suffering through the worst drought and famine in 60 years.