Music: Top of the Pops

PATTI SMITH: HORSES (Arista; $6.98). The author of two published books of verse, Patti Smith has worked as a musician intermittently over the past year or so, mainly in New York underground night spots. Dylan turned up at a performance recently—an event that confers rock's official blessing. Her debut record, like her wild-eyed poems, reveals an artist who is gifted but undisciplined. Leading off with Gloria in excelsis deo ("Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine"), her dark voice projects a tough, fragile, street-girl image. The showcase number, Horses, invokes Rimbaud and...

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