Arista Columbia Recordings 1980-1991 [Import]

Willie Nile | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Acadia Records
• ASIN: B000G03RWC
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,962 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Vagabond Moon

2. Dear Lord

3. It's All Over

4. Across the River

5. She's So Cold

6. I'm Not Waiting

7. That's the Reason

8. They'll Build a Statue of You

9. Old Men Sleeping in the Bowery

10. Behind the Cathedral

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Golden Down

2. Hide Your Love

3. Les Champs Elysees

4. Shoulders

5. Places I Have Never Been

6. Rite of Spring

7. Heaven Help the Lonely

8. Café Memphis

9. Yesterday's Dream

10. Everybody Needs a Hammer

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Better than nothing but not nearly the treatment these albums deserve, February 9, 2007

By 

Geoff Kessell "mrcryptic" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arista Columbia Recordings 1980-1991 (Audio CD)

BEWARE: THIS ENTIRE SET IS TAKEN FROM NOISY VINYL, even the tracks from Golden Down and Places I Have Never Been, which were both previously released on much better CDs. In fact, there was a bonus track on the Razor & Tie reissue of Golden Down that is missing from this collection. Sadly, the aforementioned discs are both out of print, so this may be your only option, and the first album has not been on CD before (which is why I purchased this). Still, if you can find the other releases, they are infinitely better quality. If you can't, this is better than nothing, just not what these fantastic and criminally under-appreciated albums deserve. Also know that Nile continues to release consistently excellent material beyond these three albums. I wholeheartedly recommend his post-Columbia output, especially Beautiful Wreck of the World (1999) and Streets of New York (2006).

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the wait Willie, September 12, 2006

By 

Mark C. Meyers "Mark Meyers" (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arista Columbia Recordings 1980-1991 (Audio CD)

We finally have CD access to Willie Nile's early work. Covering a wide range of history from the Regean years to Clinton(Hard Times...), it is interesting to hear this work against the world events of the time. Aside from thoughtful and meaningful lyrics, songs like "Vagabond Moon" are just great rock songs with poetic and romantic sensibilities. On carefully listening, there are some really creative and interesting Buddy Holly-esque chords--just fantastic stuff. Other tunes like "It's All Over" are heartbreakers with romantic poetry: "In a church yard by the frozen shore"--a valentine for any Buffalonian.
Willie Nile is a troubadour in the best sense of the word. He has been a presence in the NYC for years and has some ties still to Buffalo. I often think about what is so appealing about his work. One is that it's true in rock and roll that sometimes you need to look backward to move forward.(Holly, Berry, Orbison) This CD set is a great example of that. The honesty of presentation in this complilation of tracks is moving and perceptive, and not too sound trite, but a statement of the human condition. They speak to the journey and the struggle--perhaps reflective of his interest in existentialism(Sarte) Not many poets/rockers can lead you to path of self-discovery. Nile's empathy and honesty do that. They make you think you were with him hitchhiking from Buffalo to NYC--steno notebook on the dash.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent reissue of some fine music, February 7, 2010

By 

Randy's Rodeo (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Arista Columbia Recordings 1980-1991 (Audio CD)

I'd give the music about four-and-a-half stars (the albums are not masterpieces, but they are very, very good) and the quality of the reissue three-and-a-half stars. The sound is quite dynamic and clear, though not up to the standards of a really fine remastering like you might find if the albums had been reissued by Collector's Choice or Rhino. The liner notes are slim, but detailed; you lose the bonus tracks from the earlier Razor & Tie editions of the Arista albums, as well as the lyrics and Willie's brief personal notes; and my copy came with the two CD's laid on top of one another is a single jewel case. But, it's otherwise a good value and a welcome return of this overlooked music to the marketplace. I can't imagine why Sony/BMG (who own the masters to all three albums) haven't at least reissued them on MP3, but "The Arista Columbia Recordings" is worth every penny.

Regarding Geoff Kessell's earlier, negative review: He made me momentarily apoplectic by claiming that this CD is mastered from vinyl. I had already sold my copies of Willie's individual albums and purchased this one in an effort to slim down my collection (so I could fit more good stuff in...). But, upon a close listen, what Geoff was hearing was tape noise (most prominently on the Arista albums) and not the artifacts of a vinyl transfer. Even in quiet songs like "I Like The Way," I hear none of the pops and clicks that one would expect in a vinyl transfer, and the quality of the recording is pretty much what one would expect from the period. The later, Columbia album is clear as a bell.