The big difference between Patti Smith's four 1970s albums and this return to action after nine years lies in the choice of collaborator.
Where Smith's main associate earlier had been Lenny Kaye, a deliberately simple guitarist, here her co-writer and co-producer (with Jimmy Iovine) was her husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith, formerly of the MC5, who played guitar with a conventional rock competence and who lent his talents to each of the tracks, giving them a mainstream flavor.
In a sense, however, these polished love songs, lullabies, and political statements are not to be compared to the poetic ramblings of Smith's first decade of music-making -- she's so much...calmer this time out.
But you can't help it.
Where the Patti Smith of Horses inspired a generation of female rockers, the Patti Smith of Dream of Life sounds like she's been listening to later Pretenders albums and taking tips from Chrissie Hynde, one of her spiritual daughters.
Dream of Life is the record of someone who is simply showing the flag, trying to keep her hand in, rather than announcing her comeback.
Not surprisingly, having made it, Smith retreated from the public eye again until the '90s.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | People Have the PowerFred "Sonic" Smith, Patti Smith | Patti Smith | Play | 05:10 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 2 | Up There Down ThereFred "Sonic" Smith, Patti Smith | Patti Smith | Play | 04:50 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 3 | Paths That CrossFred "Sonic" Smith, Patti Smith | Patti Smith | Play | 04:20 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | Dream of LifeFred "Sonic" Smith, Patti Smith | Patti Smith | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 5 | Where Duty CallsFred "Sonic" Smith, Patti Smith | Patti Smith | Play | 07:48 | 17 MB | 46 MB |
| 6 | Going UnderFred "Sonic" Smith, Patti Smith | Patti Smith | Play | 05:59 | 13 MB | 34 MB |
| 7 | Looking for You (I Was)Fred "Sonic" Smith, Patti Smith | Patti Smith | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 8 | The Jackson SongFred "Sonic" Smith, Patti Smith | Patti Smith | Play | 05:40 | 12 MB | 26 MB |
| 9 | As The Night Goes By (Bonus Track) | Patti Smith | Play | 05:04 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 10 | Wild Leaves (Bonus Track) | Patti Smith | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 51 mins | 118 MB | |||||
| 51 mins | 315 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vic Anesini | Mastering, Remastering |
| 2 | Errol Crusher Bennett | Percussion |
| 3 | Jay Dee Daugherty | Drums, Keyboards, Musical Consultant, Remastering, Remixing |
| 4 | Robert DeLaGarza | Assistant Engineer |
| 5 | Marc DeSisto | Assistant Engineer |
| 6 | Bill-Dog Dooley | Assistant Engineer |
| 7 | Sammy Figueroa | Percussion |
| 8 | Hearn Gadbois | Percussion |
| 9 | Maude Gilman | Design |
| 10 | Bob Glaub | Bass |
| 11 | Jay Healey | Engineer |
| 12 | Jimmy Iovine | Producer |
| 13 | Bob Irwin | Reissue Mastering Supervision |
| 14 | Rob Jacobs | Assistant Engineer |
| 15 | Lenny Kaye | Remastering, Remixing |
| 16 | Kevin Killen | Engineer |
| 17 | Jesse Levy | Cello |
| 18 | Scott Litt | Assistant Producer, Associate Producer, Mixing |
| 19 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 20 | Robert Mapplethorpe | Photography |
| 21 | Dave McNair | Assistant Engineer |
| 22 | Jim Michewicz | Engineer |
| 23 | Robin Nash | Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | Andi Ostrowe | Vocals (Background) |
| 25 | Thom Panunzio | Engineer |
| 26 | Gary Rasmussen | Bass |
| 27 | Margaret Ross | Harp |
| 28 | Fred "Sonic" Smith | Composer, Guest Artist, Guitar, Producer |
| 29 | Patti Smith | Composer, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 30 | Richard Sohl | Keyboards |
| 31 | Brian Sperber | Engineer |
| 32 | Kasim Sulton | Bass |
| 33 | Roger Talkov | Assistant Engineer |
| 34 | Richard Travali | Assistant Engineer |
| 35 | Malcolm West | Bass |
| 36 | Sherri Whitmarsh | Reissue Design |
| 37 | Shelly Yakus | Mixing |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |