In the Street

The Village People | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 26, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chronicles/PolyGram
• ASIN: B00000HXFC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #363,772 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The SECOND best Village People album, December 3, 2005

By 

Harry Wang - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Street (Audio CD)

Next to "Renaissance", this is the best VP album. It follows closely on the heels of "Renaissance"'s ground-breaking, eclectic sound and vision. You really can't compare the two, although they are somewhat related. Like "Sgt Pepper" was related to "Magical Mystery Tour" in a way, but it was a totally different album with a different feel to it, and its own sort of "vibe" with different songs. Just like "Magical Mystery Tour" shows that the Beatles had grown up and "learned" from the psychedelic experiments of "Sgt Pepper", so too does "In The Street" have remnants of the "Renaissance" era, but with a new twist.

This was the Village People's attempt at hip-hop, but not rap. One look at the cover and you can tell that these guys are coming to break-dance. The boom box on the shoulder, the whole brash, excellent New York attitude, it's all there, they look like a bunch of b-boys coming to battle Rock Steady Crew at the Roxy or something. It gets you prepared for the first few tracks which are SONIC FUNK BOMBS. Many of them are elongated funk jams that rival Parliament-Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" and James Brown's 1970's output like "Make It Funky" and "Hot Pants".

The break in James Brown & The JB's "Give It Up or Turnit A-Loose" is one of the best pieces of funk ever, but this is even heavier. The instrumentation is OFF THE HOOK funky and no one will be able to sit down during songs like "Success" and "Radio Freak". "Success" is a little better, with a sleek bass line that sounds like Bootsy or Busta Cherry Jones. In fact, "Spaced Out" sounds like Talking Heads' "Remain In Light" it is so loose and FUNKY, and just builds and builds. Many bands around this time (the Heads being one of them, Blondie, even The Clash tried it) made an attempt to match the new hip-hop sounds with their own style, and this one deserves a spot among all of them. How this album is out of print but The Clash's "Sandinista" gets 5-star reviews is beyond me, because "Fox On The Box" is as good an album opener as "Magnificent Seven" is from that album. This album is right up there with the crucial 80's releases, and the production is so heavy that you'll swear you were listening to George Clinton.

This is good, hard funk played excellently by a group of musicians who branched out and blew away alot of the bands from that time, but because everyone focuses on YMCA, no one wants to look at the true talent lurking beneath this classic. Buy It.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars WE ALL HAVE OUR BAD DAYS, I GUESS..., December 24, 2000

By 

Claude Bouchard Jr. "Eurodancemix" (Frederick, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Street (Audio CD)

This album was actually recorded prior to 1980, between the release of their albums LIVE & SLEAZY and CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC. But it wasn't released until 1983, two years after the album RENAISSANCE which was their failed attempt at cashing in on the New Wave music fad. It's a sad sad attempt at funk. The VP are uncomfortable singing this garbage and it come through in the vocals. The whole thing is boring and lifeless. In fact, it's so bad that it was only released overseas on smaller labels, no US label would even touch it. The main single was "Fox On The Box", a wannabe straight-song about a female radio DJ. It was a minor hit in Spain, but that's about it.

Save your money and stay away from this one. Thankfully, the VP redeemed themselves a hundredfold a couple of years later when they released the fantastic 1985 album SEX OVER THE PHONE. Don't let that title fool you: it's by far their best and most mature release.