New Yorker Willie Nile's 1980 debut introduced a folk-rocker for a new era, informed by both the singer/songwriter scene and the punk explosion. (Patti Smith's drummer is behind the kit here.) Not that the rocking side of the sound is particularly punky, per se ("That's the Reason" bears a distinct '50s influence, for instance), but the edge and energy of "Old Men Sleeping on the Bowery" and "Sing Me a Song" would have been inconceivable in an earlier era. And on the other end of the spectrum, the hushed, guitar-and-voice portrait of two young lovers on "Behind the Cathedral" and the poignant piano ballad "Across the River" display Nile's knack as a troubadour.