Patti Smith

Rock and Roll's Mother Courage calls for nothing less than a new American revolution on her best album since returning to active duty in the Nineties. 'Awake from your slumber Get 'em with the numbers,' Smith commands in the mantra-jam 'Gandhi' -- a call to non-violent unity that reverberates through every song here: in the healing quiet of 'Mother Rose' and 'Trespasses,' and in the high wail found on 'Radio Baghdad.'

Next: Gwen Stefani

Back to the Top 50 Records of 2004 Main