Twelve

The recent Hall of Fame inductee records an album of covers that range from the obvious (songs by Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young, and Paul Simon) to the really obvious (Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, the Doors).

Check out our album review of Artist's Twelve on Rolling Stone.com.

According to her brief liner notes, Patti Smith indulged the idea of a covers album, considering songs as far back as 1978 on the back pages of Jean Genet's Thief's Journal when she was still assembling her groundbreaking early catalog; it's evident she feels that covers have been part and parcel of her recording experience from the outset.

<p>They may be covers but such is the power of the punk-poet's voice that these songs become her own, reckons <strong>Neil Spencer</strong>.</p>

Playing it safe could not be more inappropriate for a Patti Smith album.

<p>(Sony BMG)</p>