Trampin'

Patti Smith made her reputation an as unflinching poet and rocker who turned surprisingly nurturing upon her second return to public service in 1996 after the death of her husband, MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith. But by 2004, with the world in a tizzy, Smith reflects on 9/11, Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, and a world seemingly in need of peace, love and understanding with her toughest album in many years. Right from the onset of “Jubilee,” one can hear the shift in tone. Her previous albums had massaged the rough edges of her band but now she was determined to leave a few ragged edges untouched. “Gandhi” and “Radio Baghdad” further explore the experimental ends of her visions with extended musical and poetic jams. Not that Trampin’ is without its moments of notable refinement. “Mother Rose,” “My Blakean Year,” and “Peaceable Kingdom” reflect on a world gone wrong with graceful melodicism, while the title track, a traditional spiritual, features just Smith and her daughter Jesse on piano for an intimate moment of generational transcendence.