House of a Thousand Guitars

Willie Nile

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 14, 2009)
• Original Release Date: April 14, 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: R.E.D. Distribution
• ASIN: B001TD1XW6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,259 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Willie Nile s new album, House Of A Thousand Guitars, is the realization and fulfillment of all the promise
that had been predicted by many since his debut album years ago. From all-out rockers with meat on the bone like the title track and Doomsday Dance, to the chilling portrait of wars aftermath in Now That The War is Over,
to the heartbreaking beauty of Her Love Falls Like Rain and Touch Me, Willie Nile has clearly made the best
album of his career.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible CD, April 29, 2009

By	Chet (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This is the best album I've heard by ANYONE in a few years - not a bad tune on it, and most are amazing: the title song, "Run," "Doomsday Dance," "Now That the War Is Over," "Little Light," "Give Me Tomorrow" - all fantastic. Just a great mix of uptempo rockers, catchy pop/rock tunes and piano ballads. I've listened to it over and over in the two weeks I've had it, and I find something new to love about it with each listen. Willie Nile has been making great music since 1980, and just keeps getting better and better with age. His 2006 release "Streets of New York" was tremendous, and this new one is even better.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New York rocker spins out sonic masterpiece, May 4, 2009

By	Jim Clark "Jim Clark" (Tupelo, MS) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

By Jim Clark
Publisher, Lee County Courier, Tupelo, MS

I stumbled upon the self-titled Willie Nile debut album (long before CDs) in 1980.
He, like John Prine and Steve Forbert, had been pegged as the next Dylan. But critics, as they often do, got it wrong -- Willie could rock harder than Dylan ever thought about. A comparison to Springsteen would be more on target.
In the winter of 1980 he had begun on his sophomore album, Golden Down, which included the song "I Can't Get You Off Of My Mind." Willie had switched from guitar to piano on the song, but not just any piano -- the piano John Lennon composed "Imagine" on. In fact, John and Yoko were down the hall mixing their own album.
"Their engineer called late on a Sunday night," Willie said. "asking for guitar strings for John. We sent some over and I was going to put a note in with the strings just to say `Hello ... thanks for all the music ... lots of love,' ... but didn't, figuring I'd tell him when I met him in a day or two. He was killed that night on his way home from the studio."
Willie could fill an afternoon with stories like that -- opening for The Who in the 80s, singing with Bruce Springsteen in front of 60,000 people, Ringo coming backstage before his encore and invite him onstage at the end of the All Star Band tour which Willie opened for him back in the early 90's to sing on "With A Little Help From My Friends," and more.
Somewhere around 1990 Willie and I became pen pals -- a relationship we carry on to this day.
And now House of a Thousand Guitars, his ninth CD has released. It's a rollicking wall of sound, with Willie's usual cool lyrics -- a rock `n' roll masterpiece.
One of my personal favorites is the tongue-in-cheek "Doomsday Dance" so I asked him about it.
"Doomsday Dance was a natural reaction to all the crazy going's on in this world. The desire to get up and dance got the better of us. I wrote it with Frankie Lee and recorded it with my band The Worry Dolls. The song has one of my favorite verses on the album: `I'll take your bony hand you're gonna shake your hips. I'm gonna squeeze you tight kiss your apocalypse. There'll be a body count, we're gonna watch it rise. The folks at CNN they won't believe their eyes. We'll do the Dead Man's Twist this is our last chance Down at the Doomsday Dance,'" Willie said. "The song is just us having a little fun with the apocalypse."
Two other knock out cuts are "Now That The War Is Over," one of the best anti-war songs I've ever heard and "Little Light" an anthem sure to move you.
I did the math, knowing Willie was born in 1948 and asked about how he could keep up with the labels which have been hung on him "live-wire rocker" and "one-man Clash."
"It's easy to stay focused. I love writing and recording. It's just what I do. It helps me make sense of the world and it's great fun to make music. Why would I ever stop?," Willie asked. "I guess if it stops being fun I'll stop but I don't see that happening anytime soon."
I've always wanted to see him live and have an open invitation, but Willie doesn't travel our direction much.
"I would dearly love to play in all three cities (Memphis, Oxford, Tupelo). I love the south and the Delta Blues and the great musical traditions that live and breathe there. Elvis was one of a kind. I'd love to walk those streets sometime and play some music there. Hopefully sometime soon," Willie said.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 -- Nile spins another rock `n' roll classic, April 14, 2009

By	hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Talk about a second wind. Fifteen years after his previous studio effort (1991's Places I Have Never Been) Nile summoned a life in rock `n' roll as the musical language for his hometown love letter, Streets of New York. Nile seemed to be aging forward and backward at the same time, writing lyrics from the perspective of middle-age and setting them to the fevered musical roots of youth. He was streetwise and urban, a rebel and a student of musical history who could channel the original energies of rock's founders without sounding retro. Last year's Live from the Streets of New York flashed back to his breakthrough with a supercharged release party's live run through.

Nile's Benjamin Button-like excursion towards the verve and uncensored creativity of youth continues with House of a Thousand Guitars, featuring a dozen songs that capture both the heart of rock `n' roll and the depth of middle-age. The disc opens with a lyrical tribute to Nile's predecessors that compels his bandmates to sing along on the chorus. The baritone riff that opens "Run" is just one indication that Nile has a universal rock `n' roll fever for the call of guitar, bass and drums. Here again the chorus is catchy enough to sing on its first pass, but the hooks are sticky enough to hum the rest of the day. The rocking continues with the apocalyptic "Doomsday Dance" before Nile catches his breath on the ballads "Love is a Train" and "Her Love Falls Like Rain."

If there's a weakness to this album, it's that some of Nile's similes are well thumbed, but even these familiar turns are refreshed by the fervor of his vocals, the emotional swell of his melodies and the powerhouse playing of his band. Nile writes brooding and fist-pumping love songs, aware of both the costs and the returns of relationships. The balance sheet on "Now That the War is Over" is more one sided, enumerating with sad clarity the emotional and physical wreckage of armed conflict. The album closes with an end-of-the-night lullaby inspired by his adopted metropolis, "When the Last Light Goes Out on Broadway."

All of the promise that Nile showed in his 20s and 30s now seems like an apprenticeship to the blossom of his late 50s. He writes in his title song of a place where "they say there are no broken strings / just some busted hearts and a bee that stings," and it's clearly a place he's not only been living but helping to maintain. Streets of New York may forever remain his artistic pièce de résistance, but with House of a Thousand Guitars he's served notice that there's still more rock and roll to be sung. Mark this one down for your end-of-the year best-of list. 4-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]