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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 so underrated. Jul 28, 2005
i love this album! it was patti's first after almost a decade of silence. i think it perfectly bridges the gap to her transition (from the 70's mother of punk rock heard on "horses" "radio ethiopia" "easter" & "wave" to the 90's self-reflection of "gone again" & "peace & noise")
either you'll love it right away, or it'll take a few listens to grow on you. but reguardless, it's yet another quality & honest chapter in patti's amazing career.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Mature, reserved and memorable Jun 18, 2005
This album was Patti Smith's return to music after a long hiatus following her groundbreaking albums like Horses, Radio Ethiopia and Easter. It is a somewhat neglected work in her oeuvre but it features plenty of great songs.
This new edition has now been enhanced by the inclusion of two previously unreleased tracks: As The Night Goes By and Wild Leaves. The highlights include People Have The Power, a rousing anthem, the sad & beautiful The Jackson Song -- a type of lullaby in the vein of Hymn on the Wave album. My favourite is Looking For You (I Was), one of the truly great songs of her career, with poetic lyrics, a lilting beat and a hypnotic melody.
In style, the album definitely resembles her 1970s work and the 1996 album Gone Again more than her later/more recent work. It is more mature and reserved that those blazing and passionate excursions on Easter and Horses, but full of substance and genius. I highly recommend it to all fans of Patti Smith.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
None Too Shabby Oct 23, 2004
When Patti Smith emerged from her self imposed 8 year domestic hiatus folks (yours truely included)were dismayed that the former punk preistess released such a polished album. Heads shook sadly and the cry of sellout was usually associated with DREAM OF LIFE.
Sixteen years later, taken in a different context, this turns out to be a pretty good PS album. Let me repeat "pretty good", not great. The production is still a tad too polished for the good of the material. A little of the feral aggression of the earlier albums could have taken this material over the top and the less said about WHERE DUTY CALLS, perhaps the better. Still, this is full of excellent songs. PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER, inspired by the populist, largley peacefull revolutions in the Phillipines and the Eastern Bloc at the time still resonates strongly. UP THERE, DOWN THERE and LOOKING FOR YOU are solid rockers, and PATHS THAT CROSS and JACKSON SONG are two of Patti's strongest ballads.
Out of the entire Patti Smith catalog, DREAM OF LIFE edges out RADIO ETHIOPIA and GONE AGAIN for a distant third place behind the classic HORSES and EASTER. If you own this and haven't listened for a long time, take it out and give it a play, I bet you will be suprised at the overall quality. If you don't own this and are a fan of the albums that I have mentioned previously, you should investigate.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
A Different Patti Smith Dec 05, 2001
Smith's celebrated ferocity is more subdued here, as she explores less aurally aggressive sounds than those found in other collections. Some may disdain the result as over-produced and under-engerized, but in truth--with the single exception of the truly dismal "Where Duty Calls"--virtually every track bespeaks the artist as both poet and musician, and bespeaks her well indeed. Most of the tracks are considerably more lyrical than than one expects, and Smith clearly demonstrates that her more usual run of raw vocals are merely one aspect of a voice that here can also range into a precise and delicate tonal placement. An admirable collection of music, with "People Have The Power," "Paths That Cross," and "Up There/Down There," and "The Jackson Song" highlights of the work.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Tightly Structured, Vibrant Melodies and a Great Voice Sep 15, 2000
So what's new with Patti Smith's Dream Of Life? With the replacement of guitarist Lenny Kaye by Fred Sonic Smith, The Patti Smith Group is basically intact. Patti's compositions are more tightly structured, vibrant melodies are at the core of each song, and Patti's voice has never (1988) sounded more "musical." As a straight up rocker, she puts the majority of girls and guys to shame. Anyone doubting that fifty percent of the intensity of Patti's songs comes from drummer Jay Dee Daugherty needs to simply give `People Have The Power' or `Locking For You' a spin. This guy is riveting. I've been playing `Looking For You' so loud with headphones that I've made an appoint with my audiologist to see if he can repair the damage.Patti and the band are aggressive with steamroller rockers, but she can also be a sentimental heartbreaker. `Paths That Cross' is a passionate and inspirational ballad of nostalgic love and longing. The piano, cello and harp lullaby `The Jackson Song' is a guaranteed tearjerker. My favorite is neither the heavy duty rockers nor the sentimental stuff, but `Going Under.' The song is a complex dynamic and dreamlike six minute epic. It features a solo vocal "poetry" break at the end, but no reframe - Patti's craftsmanship at its finest. The flaw on Dream of Life is the eight minute `Where Duty Calls.' Patti attempts to make a "big statement' concerning the Muslim religion, but the song rambles aimlessly for too long. Considering that Dream Of Life weighs in at a skimpy forty-one minutes, the eight minute "sleepy" period is a considerable portion of the album. Still, Dream of Life shows Patti hasn't lost her vigor. Too bad I'm now deaf in one ear.
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