Land (1975 - 2002)

Disc 1
1	Dancing Barefoot
2	Babelogue
3	Rock 'N' Roll Nigger
4	Gloria
5	Pissing In A River
6	Free Money
7	People Have The Power
8	Because The Night
9	Frederick
10	Summer Cannibals
11	Ghost Dance
12	Ain't It Strange
13	1959
14	Beneath The Southern Cross
15	Glitter In Their Eyes
16	Paths That Cross
17	When Doves Cry
Disc 2
1	Piss Factory (Live)
2	Redondo Beach (Live)
3	Distance Fingers (Live)
4	25th Floor (Live)
5	Come Back Little Sheba (Live)
6	Wander I Go (Live)
7	Dead City (Live)
8	Spell (Live)
9	Wing (Live)
10	Boy Cried Wolf (Live)
11	Birdland (Live)
12	Higher Learning - Contemplation (Live)
13	Notes To The Future (Live)
14	Tomorrow (Live)

Barnes & Noble

Patti Smith, like the protagonist of fellow Jersey native Frank Sinatra's best-known song, has always done it her way. She's been a poet, a singer, an activist, and a preacher of the gospel of pure rock 'n' roll -- a résumé that's landed her in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The two-CD retrospective Land nicely documents her career. Land's first CD is a thematically (rather than chronologically) arranged trek through Smith's most familiar material. The mystic swirl of "Dancing Barefoot" gives way to the seething rage of "Rock 'n' Roll Nigger" and a cathartic 1975 version of Van Morrison's classic "Gloria" that, while faithful to the original, bears Smith's unmistakable imprint. The tone then changes yet again, venturing into territory lit by the starry hope of songs like her hit single "Because the Night" and "Frederick," a song pledging love for husband Fred "Sonic" Smith, who passed away some years later. Disc 2 offers plenty of surprises to lure the most dedicated fans. Setting sail with the original version of the stream-of-consciousness "Piss Factory" -- the first recording of Patti's storied career -- it dovetails into a brace of demos, including lovely versions of "Redondo Beach" and "Distant Fingers," and live rarities, such as a 1978 take on "25th Floor." Smith brings things up to the present with a passel of freshly minted recordings, including her take on Prince's "When Doves Cry" and the meditative "Higher Learning." Fittingly, Land's nonaudio components are every bit as compelling: from Susan Sontag's liner notes to Robert Mapplethorpe's gorgeous black-and-white photos to the writings and drawings contributed by Smith herself. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Patti Smith completed her contract with Arista Records after 27 years by assembling this compilation, which serves as both a best-of and rarities collection, one disc devoted to each. Disc one is drawn from Smith's eight studio albums (with the exception of a newly recorded cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry"). Having scored only one hit single, "Because the Night," Smith was not constrained by chart performance, and she seems to have chosen the songs that still mean something to her (though in an interview she claimed to have taken fan preferences into consideration). Curiously, given the album title, the epic "Land" is missing, as are such straight-ahead rockers as "Ask the Angels" and "Till Victory." But most of Smith's more impressive album tracks are included, with the selection favoring her 1970s records, an imbalance that is redressed on the second disc, which contains 2001 live recordings of songs from later albums Gone Again, Peace and Noise, and Gung Ho. The disc also has a couple of previously released singles-only tracks (her hard to find debut, "Piss Factory," and "Come Back Little Sheba," a 1996 U.K. B-side), demos ("Redondo Beach," "Distant Fingers"), a 1996 studio outtake ("Wander I Go"), live recordings of older songs ("25th Floor," "Birdland"), and one newly recorded song, "Higher Learning," a lengthy studio jam on which Smith plays clarinet. The set concludes with a poem, "Notes to the Future," recited by Smith at the 2002 New Year's Day poetry reading at St. Mark's Church in New York, that reflects her optimism, which is also expressed in a goofier manner by the hidden track, an impromptu live performance of "Tomorrow" from Annie. Land (1975-2000) is a typically idiosyncratic compilation from a quirky but imaginative artist, and that's what her fans have come to expect, so they won't be disappointed. William Ruhlmann

Rolling Stone

"If this is her last release, it is a bittersweet gift. It is also an ideal soundtrack for our work ahead." David Fricke