Horses by Patti Smith

Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie Nix · Oct 9, 2025 · 47m

Patti Smith’s Horses, released 50 years ago today, remains one of the most startling and transformative debuts in rock history. Half a century on, it still feels raw, defiant, and ahead of its time, a record that blurred the lines between poetry, performance art, and primal rock and roll. Smith showed that rock could be intellectual without being pretentious, mystical without being escapist, feminine without being weak.

Featured songs:

Gloria

Birdland

Free Money

Break It Up

Land: Horses/Land of 1000 Dances/La Mer[de]

Elegie