A rock icon who does her icons, that is how singer and poet Patti Smith's album Twelve can be summed up. Especially in her early work there is a lot of reverence for rock gods like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan and Keith Richards (after whom she modeled herself outwardly). At Twelve, the now sixty-year-old singer, together with her band (supplemented by guitarist Tom Verlaine and bassist
… Flea, among others), edited songs by these names in addition to work by Jefferson Airplane (White Rabbit), The Beatles (Within You Without You) and Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit). This does not always work out well, which has everything to do with the greatness of the originals chiselled in the collective pop memory. For example, to bring White Rabbit to a good finale, Smith lacks the vocal capacities while a loose and folky version of Smells Like Teen Spirit lingers in noncommittalness. The band also proves to be limited, which is especially difficult in a downright wooden version of Gimme Shelter. Smith has inspiration on Twelve as always, but this turns out not to be enough to keep all those classics going. (MR)more
