Customer Reviews

Faithless Street

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not a big fan of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, or Wilco (I'm more of a Steve Earle/Rolling Stones/Replacements fan) -- but this CD has got its claws in me but GOOD. Top-notch songwriting, great arrangements, ace musicianship, beautiful melodies, and haunting harmonies all make this a must-have.

You know those releases that you buy on a whim, and that profoundly change your musical outlook, that you can't take out of the CD player for months? This is one of 'em.

Admittedly I am biased... I discovered this album in the winter of 2000 standing on a windy platform, waiting on a train in New Haven, CT... I was in the midst of a terrific divorce and this was the first CD I purchased following the abduction of my music collection... riding that cold MetroNorth commuter into Manhattan, walking through Grand Central and down Park Avenue in the snow, with headphones blasting; this album saved my sanity...

It is a brilliant collection of songs that captures the "broke-down-and-busted-but-still-running" Alt. Country spirit so vividly ... bits of Uncle Tupelo; "Drank Like A River", the Jayhawks; "If He Can't Have You", Son Volt; "Top Dollar"... and still Adams breaks out on his own with gems; "Faithless Street", "Black Arrow, Bleeding Heart" and "Yesterdays News"... but he hits the hardest with "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart" and "Desperate Ain't Lonely"... and while "Factory Girl" is incredibly sweet with some of the prettiest guitar and gut-wrenching lyrics, a near perfect closer... it's the song "16 Days" that shows the talent that's about to explode...

"Ghosts has got me running away from you"... Thanks Ryan, I needed to hear that one...

I have never purchased a CD from a band I've never heard of based solely on Amazon reviews. I took a chance on this one though and trust me, if you enjoy Uncle Tupelo (any of their recordings) or the original Jayhawks, you will love this CD. I got it a week ago and haven't listened to anything else since. Just get it...you'll love it.

. . . Whiskeytown grabbed it and kept running.

Do yourself a favor. Justify the fact that you own a CD player and buy this album. Play it in your car when you're sick of hearing whimpering Australian soap stars squeak about being all torn up and out of faith on MTV. Make copies of "Faithless Street" and give them to everyone you know for Christmas. Jump up and down during the rocking numbers and make out to the slow ones. Get the picture?

THIS is truly alt-country, a healthy blend of Hank Williams and Nirvana. This is also the best vocals you are going to hear from Ryan Adams. Stark lyrics and beautiful harmonies (thanks to Caitlin Cary) this is one of those albums that lingers with you long after the last note fades. And, as an added bonus, if you haven't already purchased this album the new release includes 9 additional tracks.
The album opens softly with "Midway Park." Then they break into the blistering rocker "Drank Like A River," that has the lyrical feel of a younger Kris Kristofferson. Next comes the wrought "Too Drunk To Dream," a perfect example of Adam's Williams-esque self destructive side. Next comes the first of the added tracks, the haunting "Tennessee Square," a ballad of small town alienation. Next comes the heavy slice of honky tonk, the backhanded "What May Seem Like Love." Then the album edges into the stark pain of "Faithless Street" which finds Adams seeking plaintively, "If angels are messengers from God/please send one down to me/if angels are messengers of God/Got a letter He should read." "Mining Town" continues this theme of stripped down haunted feelings., pairing haunting steel guitar and spine tingling harmonies. They kick back into honky tonk form for the dark "If He Can't Have You." Black Arrow Bleeding Heart" sound like a contemporary mountain ballad. Caitlin Cary takes her only turn at lead vocals on the blackly humorous "Matrimony," where she belts out "I don't believe I care to marry/though I cannot say exactly why/It somehow seems to me that matrimony is misery/It's simply a faster way to die." Ryan Adams sounds like a younger Hank Williams as he tears into "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight" and the following "Desperate Ain't Lonely." Next comes the text book alt-country song, "Hard Luck Story" where Adams channels a mouthful of wit as he tells us "Well I got a bucket full of tears and a hard luck story and there's a bad moon rising behind/And I know I told you're daddy that I loves you but I changed my mind." They go into full throttle twangy rock for "Top Dollar." "Lo-Fi-Tennessee Mountain Angel" is quite possibly the most gorgeous song ever recorded. "Revenge" a little too grunge rock, but will leave you bopping in your seat. They make up for it with the quiet beauty of "Empty Baseball Park." "Here's To The Rest of the World" has an almost carnival undertone as Adams sings "I guess you deserve something you work so hard/at trying to be just like everyone else/except people like me." This sets you up for another fine example of Adams' wit in "16 Days," "I got 16 days/most of them are nights." "Yesterday's News" is the first song to really dip into Adams love of Morrissey. The album closes with the beautiful plucked bass and backyard picking feel of "Factory Girl."
This album is a beautiful album from a band who, while well versed in the grunge rock of their era had a healthy knowledge, love and respect for the classics of country. Listening to this album one realizes that there is very little that belongs on an all country station. However, there is a definitely twang to the melodies, a mandolin or fiddle and a firm setting of stories among rural working class that makes them all wrong for rock stations as well. This is, pretty much, the definition of alt-country.

The songs and performances on this album are so good that it is frightening. Virtually every song is outstanding and there are 7-8 instant classics which could rival anything in the catalogues of Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, George Jones, Gram Parson or any country great you can name. Seriously. To be able to get 21 songs of this quality by one band for the money is almost criminal. These guys leave the other No Depression bands oh-so far behind in their gravel road dust.

After seeing this band on t.v., I bought the disc without even knowing who whiskeytown was. soon after, my replacements, clash, and big head todd records were collecting dust. This is the best album that I have in my collection. Many pardons to keith richards, nirvana, dwight, john cash, mike ness, and others. Buy this record. You won't be disappointed.

This album was recorded in the summer of 1995. In my opinion it's an alt-country classic, and it introduced me to some of the best music I've heard. I love all of Whiskeytown's albums, and Ryan Adams' and Caitlin Cary's solo work as well. This album (their first) has a special place in my heart. The music here is gritty, honest and beautiful. The album is introspective all around, especially on songs like "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight", "If He Can't Have You", "Desperate Ain't Lonely", and others. The album was re-released in 1998 with bonus tracks, and it remains as one of their best albums.

This is a brilliant record that rivals Uncle Tupelo's March 16-20 as the best Americana I've ever heard. Not as slickly produced as another fine effort Stangers Almanac, Faithless Street has more edge, diversity, and just pure musicianship. The last song, Factory Girl, is so good you'll be singing it to yourself for days.

This is one the top 10 records of the '90's.

Short and simple: if I were stuck on a desert island--one that miraculously had a CD player--and I could pick one CD to listen to for the rest of my life, this would be it. I can't understand the apathy in the other reviews: this CD is one of those rare "classics."
Notable tracks are "Black Arrow; Bleeding Heart," "Desperate ain't Lonely" and "Too Drunk To Dream"
This album combines the raw elements of a good counrty album while infusing the sophisticated songwriting that Ryan Adams is know for. The simplicity of this album displays the effect good music can have when written and crafted by someone like Adams.
If you purchased "Gold" and are interested in more Adams music like "Gold", you should note that this album is almost a different genre than Adams' solo work. You may want to buy "Heartbreaker" before checking this out; but if you like Hank Williams Sr., Merle Haggard, Steve Earle, Gram Parsons or even Lucinda Williams--basically if you dig country and like "Gold"--buy this album now! It is already a classic as far as I am concerned.