Rock n' Roll icon Patti Smith decided to record a covers album later in her career and this cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was a highlight. The album 'Twelve' was released in 2007 and featured songs from a wide range of artists including Bob Dylan, Jimmy Hendrix, Paul Simon and even Tears for Fears... amongst many others. For me the album was a mixed bag... with some songs a recreation of the original and while not having the young brashness of her ultimate cover from 'Horses' which was Van Morrison's "Gloria", they still worked well. While other songs just didn't do it for me... my expectations were very high, so overall it wasn't a bad album. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was completely reinvented with banjo, fiddle, stand-up bass and guitar with Smith's vocal performance as good as any time in her career. She even throws a poem in the middle of it and turns an American classic into a timeless American classic. Artistically brilliant.
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