All-TIME 100 Albums

Horses

Because Smith was a poet before she was a singer… and John Cale of the Velvet Underground produced… and her lover Robert Mapplethorpe took the cover photo, Horses is often praised for fusing classical verse, feminism, punk and the avant-garde—which makes this epic debut sound like it belongs on a syllabus for a class few people would willingly take. In fact, it’s a rock record of overwhelming power. For all her poetic skill, the album’s most memorable words are its first: “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.” From there, Smith’s voice—like a match dragging across the side of a matchbox just before it ignites—and unrelenting band (guitarist Lenny Kaye, pianist Richard Sohl, drummer Jay Dee Daugherty and bassist Ivan Kral) swagger through a complete reinvention of Van Morrison’s Gloria and several nine minute volcanoes that feel far more romantic and revolutionary than any mere poetry.

Next: Led Zeppelin IV (a.k.a. Zoso)