Customer Reviews

Streets of New York

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once again, I have to thank LeAnn Hansen of NPR for turning me onto this album. Willie was one of the proto-punk artists that New York seemed to churn out in the late 70's thru the early 80's. He disappeared and I forgot all about him. Then i heard his interview and acoustic performanace of "The Day I Saw Bo Diddley in Washington Square" and I immediately ordered this disc. For that one song alone, this disc is worth the money. I ahve spent years walking and sometimes working in the Village and he captures the messy artistry of that part of New york perfectly.

His voice can be an unearthly wail similar to young Bob Dylan or growly like Van Morrison. Not always pretty, but at all times it is honest. the songwriting is excellent. There are lines and passages that will ring in your head for days after.

Punk rockers can grow up without selling out, and this disc is proof of that. With this disc, he has joined my personal pantheon of great modern song writers like John Hiatt and Steve Earle. Like them, he is an honest writer. He does not descend to easy cliches.

This album rocks. By the time he ends with a snarling version of "Police on my Back", I dare you not to listen to this disc again.

A beautiful collection of songs. It's hard to pick a favorite, but "When One Stands" is a hauntingly melodic anthem to justice and courage. On the other hand, "Whole World With You" is an unabashedly joyous rock'n'roll tribute to love - and lust. Finally, the slightly ominous back beat in "On Some Rainy Day" will follow you for days. As with any terrific work, you'll hear something new each time you listen. Highly recommended.

Willie Nile has released what may very well be the best (albeit unknown) record of the year. Right from the opening intro this record, for lack of a better expression, kicks ass! "Welcome to my Head" may very well be the best openiing song I have ever heard on an album (it will prbably be his signature opening much as "Start Me Up" is for the Stones). Right from there your attention is held as each track filters through your head with brilliant melodies, intelligent lyrics, and great musicianship. This all culminates with the haunting title track, "Streets of New York". I grew up there and I can close my eyes and he takes me there as though I have never left. It actually makes me homesick. "Streets of New York" is nothing short of brilliant. Buy this record, you will not regret it!

Love this CD! Yes, there are shadows of Springsteen and Dylan (nothing wrong with that...), but it more than stands on its own. These are catchy, beautifully-written songs. Others have mentioned the stand-outs as "Streets of New York", "Police on My Back" and "Game of Fools"-- which I agree are top-notch. But right up among these is "On Some Rainy Day", probably my favorite of the bunch. I highly recommend this CD...

Remember Willie Nile from the early 80's? No? Wow, you don't know what you missed. This record, a follow-up to his incredible "Beautiful Wreck of the World" is amazing from beginning to end. Wille is the kind of songwriter that others wish they could be. Highlights here include "Game of Fools", "Cell Phones Ringing (In the Pockets of the Dead)" and a blistering cover of The Clash's "Police on my Back." The title song is also a beauty.

P.S. See Wille live if you can. Great performer.

His first recording since 1999's wonderful Beautiful Wreck of the World may be his best yet.If you have never heard him before this would be a good place to start.A basic roots rocker in the Mellancamp Springsteen mode Willie Nile has been too long a secret.This is a great record.

I remember seeing Wile Nile on stage with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Shea Stadium at the end of The Rising Tour in October 2003. He was very energetic and was playing passionately, but frankly, I was totally unfamiliar with his work. That has changed forever with the purchase of "Streets of New York."

This album is a revelation. 14 songs, and they're all memorable. Rockers, anthems, ballads-- they're all here. Every song has a hook, and the arrangements are memorable. If you want to experience the joy of discovery you felt when you bought your first albums, "Streets of New York" may do it for you. It's that good.

I think this is a terrific CD...I think the www.allmusic.com review by Dave Thompson sums up my feelings pretty well:


If early 2006 is remembered for nothing else, it will go down in history for the two greatest urban Americana albums of the 21st century to date - Dion's Bronx in Blue and Willie Nile's Streets of New York, a swaggering braggart of a disc that is to the modern Apple everything that Lou Reed's New York was 15 years before. The opening "Welcome to My Head" sets the stage, raising the curtain on a fantasy vision of the city nightlife that sums up every dream Broadway and beyond have ever instilled in the mind of the outsider, and set to a crunchy guitar melody that is as real as the streets that stretch out from there. It might be Nile's first album in six years, but it sounds as though he's been planning it his entire life - even the songs that slip outside of the city concept ("Asking Annie Out" is the first) share the crowded, bustling air of the more "relevant" rockers, while "The Day I Saw Bo Diddley in Washington Square" paints the scene so firmly that you'll see him, too. Even more impressively, the backing rarely motors in the directions you'd expect. Fiddles keen and a mandolin pounds, while Nile borrowed his band from as far afield as John Mellencamp and Rosanne Cash. Further captivating imagery spills from "Faded Flower of Broadway," celebrating a primitivist artist who still sells her paintings on the street at 80 years of age and, though it's a cover, a pounding "Police on My Back," purposefully cut in rent-a-Clash mode as a tribute to Joe Strummer, and just as powerful as its illustrious forbear. One song steps away from New York entirely - the impossibly eerie "Cell Phones Ringing (In the Pockets of the Dead)" was written following the Madrid train bombings of March 2004. Of course, there's barely a soul in the city who won't be able to identify with the emotion that lies behind the lyrics, or the nightmare scenario that peels out around them. But that is not the only song on this album that one could say that about; indeed, if you haven't been to New York recently, Nile might just have saved you the fare. Streets of New York is that powerful.


P.S. to El Lagarto...try giving something 2, 3 or 4 stars...let some grey seep into your black (1 star) and white (5 star) world...

If your looking for some solid roots americana, pick this up. If you enjoy the best work of Bruce Springsteen and enjoy the dreamy landscape lyricism of the early Springsteen records than you will love this album. That said, this is an album that survives on its own merits. The songs are well-crafted and the lyrics are crafty, poetic and a touch grandiose like early Boss material. We are ignorant if we are judging if this work is derivative or not; everything that is classic is derivative in some fashion. This album is a nod to Springsteen, yes, and perhaps in this case, the pupil outshining the master. Note the piano on "Streets of New York"--a little bit like "The Promise", especially the opening chords. One thing for sure: this album is full of the promises that only Rock and Roll from NY can deliver. And I have to say that I am extremely proud that Willie is from my home town of Buffalo, New York. Go Buffalo. Go Nile--excellent work.

If you need to remember that love is possible after all, and if ya love your guitar tuneful and rowdy, crank this! Plus a bit of trombone reggae, tin whistle and a little ditty from the Clash. Wille: you're undeniable.

Let's just say we loved him so much in the 80's we brought our mom to one NYC show. The title song brims with love and loss and love again, makes an ex-NYC-er miss that town way too much. His phrasing and soul and pure joy all sing out -- crank it!