Editing Horses (album) (section)

==Musical style==
{{Listen |filename=Gloria (Patti Smith song - sample).ogg |title="Gloria" |pos=right |description="[[Gloria (Them song)|Gloria]]" relies on a simple [[chord progression|progression]] of three chords (E major, D major, and A major).{{sfn|Wendell|2014|p=34}}}}

Smith characterized ''Horses'' as "[[three-chord song|three-chord]] rock merged with the power of the word".{{sfn|Shaw|2008|p=93}} ''[[Consequence (publication)|Consequence]]''{{'}}s Lior Phillips noted that the minimalist quality of the album's music "matched the tone of" the nascent [[punk rock]] genre,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://consequence.net/2018/01/the-50-albums-that-shaped-punk-rock/ |title=The 50 Albums That Shaped Punk Rock |website=[[Consequence (publication)|Consequence]] |date=January 8, 2018 |access-date=June 21, 2021 |last1=Brennan |first1=Collin |last2=Phillips |first2=Lior |last3=Roffman |first3=Michael}}</ref> which had emerged in New York City in the mid-1970s, and counted Smith, Television, and fellow CBGB regulars such as the [[Ramones]] as practitioners.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-york-punk-ma0000012220 |title=New York Punk |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=August 1, 2024}}</ref> Author Joe Tarr identified a punk sensibility in the music's reliance on simple [[chord progression]]s,{{sfn|Tarr|2008|p=29}} and William Ruhlmann of [[AllMusic]] also cited Lenny Kaye's rudimentary guitar playing and the "anarchic spirit" of Smith's vocals as being representative of punk.<ref name="Ruhlmann"/> Tarr wrote that the band "proudly flaunted a [[garage rock]] aesthetic" on ''Horses'', while Smith "sang with the delirious release of an inspired amateur", emphasizing "honest passion" over technical proficiency.{{sfn|Tarr|2008|p=98}} Smith's vocals on the album alternate between being sung and [[spoken word|spoken]], an approach that, according to Peter Murphy of ''[[Hot Press]]'', "challenged the very notion of a demarcation" between the two forms.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.hotpress.com/music/remember-this-classic-album-patti-smiths-horses-2618511 |title=Remember this classic album: Patti Smith's Horses |magazine=[[Hot Press]] |location=Dublin |date=October 24, 2002 |access-date=October 21, 2020 |last=Murphy |first=Peter}}</ref>

AllMusic critic Steve Huey observed that ''Horses'' borrowed ideas from the [[avant-garde music|avant-garde]], with the music showcasing the band's [[free jazz]]-inspired interplay and improvisation, while still remaining "firmly rooted in primal three-chord rock & roll."<ref name="Huey"/> He called ''Horses'' "essentially the first [[art punk]] album."<ref name="Huey"/> Smith and her band's musical improvisation differentiated them from most of their punk contemporaries, whose songs rarely diverged from straightforward three-chord structures.{{sfn|Tarr|2008|p=29}} Throughout ''Horses'', they also tempered their punk sound with elements of other musical styles, balancing more conventional rock songs with excursions into [[reggae]] ("Redondo Beach") and [[jazz]] ("Birdland").{{sfn|Wendell|2014|p=35}}