My Favorite Album
H | 04/08/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the best CD I own. Nile combines Bob Dylan style lyrics with Warren Zevon's sense of humor. This is simply great rock n roll."
Great RocknRoll!
A. Tegtmeier | Northern Alabama | 11/28/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A mixture between Springsteen, Zevon and Robyn Hitchcock - this results in one of the most fun records of the last years. Why didn't I know this guy until now? He deserves to be a superstar ..."
Hard driving rock in its purest, most fun form!
Tito | Los Angeles, CA United States | 03/02/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Caveat/apology: I'm going to spend some time in this review with observations on Willie Nile on the whole and not just on this album. But I will address this album.
I picked up this album (along with 2 others of Willie's) after having spent a 3-week summer vacation feasting on Streets of New York, and wondering (as other reviewers have) how I failed to come across this guy's stuff before. In between purchases, I had the good fortune of seeing Willie live in a very small (but legendary) venue in L.A.: McCabe's Guitar Shop. My eyes and ears got into an argument. My eyes told me that only two people were on stage: Willie Nile and Frankie Lee. My ears insisted there was a full, hard rocking band on stage. I've been to probably 500 concerts, so this wasn't some live music novice here, confounded and amazed by what he was witnessing.
The bottom line: Willie Nile puts it ALL out there, all the time. On stage, on every record. If you're a fan of straight-up, "un-hyphenated rock" (he's not country-rock, he's not alt-rock, he ain't hard-rock...he's just...rock), then Willie is for you. He plays his music (live or on the album) as though it's his last act on earth, and he wants to make it count. Passionate and driving, inspired by all the influences who came before him, yet crafting something uniquely his own. Bruce Springsteen goes in, Neil Young's work with Crazy Horse goes in, even some Tom Petty goes into the mix. But what comes out is Willie. (no snickering in the back, please!). In fact, one might argue that what Willie Nile's music represents is an expression of rock fandom at its finest, mixed with his own creativity and inspirations. You can TELL that Willie loves his influences. One can imagine that even at his age he's cranking old Beatles and Stones songs on his car stereo when he drives. Willie's music is what we rock hounds/fans/nerds would be making ourselves...if we had the talent and the chops to do it! But thankfully Willie is here!
Beautiful Wreck of the World is the finest representation of Nile's songwriting and execution. It begins, as most of his albums tend to, with an up-tempo, super catchy song (in this case, "You Gotta Be A Buddha (In a Place Like This))". There's almost a rap album ethos to this. What Willie is doing is saying "ok, I'm letting you know right here and now with track one what you are in for! Get Ready!" He lays it all out right there with the first track. (Check out "Welcome to My Head", "House of 1000 Guitars" and "Places I Have Never Been" from his other recent release and you'll see what I mean).
From there, the musical and lyrical themes unfold like a feast for your ears. There's the quasi AC/DC-pulsed "Black Magic and White Lies". Just when your heartbeat is inching towards the BPM (beats per minute) of the first two songs, Willie brings it down with the staggeringly good power ballad "Bread Alone".
He continues with a Lennon-inspired melody (The Man Who Used to Be), an almost Pogues-ish romp (Beautiful Wreck of the World).
If you tend to be the sort of music fan who *leans* towards super-underground-sounding alternative rock (Mercury Rev, Yo La Tengo, Brian Jonestown Massacre, etc), then Willie Nile might not be for you. He won't take you into uncharted waters. But those of you who take risks on bands like that know that as often as not, they don't pay off, they're experimental for experimentation's sake, the songs are forgettable, and the journey isn't particuarly plesant. Willie will take you to familiar waters, but you'll enjoy few - if any - trips down the musical memory lane as much as where he will take you. And it may never sound so fresh.
See him live.
Buy this album."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1