Destiny Street Complete
Omnivore, 2021
10/10
Listen to Destiny Street Complete
The sophomore and final album from Richard Hell and the Voidoids that was originally released in 1982, here the classic album lives again and includes the original version, a repaired version, a remixed version and demos version spread across 2 discs of early punk greatness.
The first disc is the original Destiny Street Remastered and Destiny Street Repaired. The play list is the same for both albums, so you get to hear the run order twice with slight changes. “The Kid With The Replaceable Head” starts the listen with a gritty and melodic display of proto-punk and garage rock, and later on the Repaired version injects guitar solos and added vocals to make the track that much more vibrant.
Elsewhere, the bouncy and playful spirit of “I Gotta Move” sounds just as good now as it did in 1982, and the Repaired version highlights the best assets with a fuller sound of punk spirited energy. Further on, “I Can Only Give You Everything” is filled with firm drumming and a lively rhythm section as Hell’s vocal acrobatics are front and center, while the Repaired track is much cleaner in sound, though certainly still full of raw, thumping rock’n’roll.
The second disc differs from the first disc in that it’s not the same track listing twice, cause the Demos portion brings several different songs that never appeared on the original album. Of the Remixed portion, the more subdued and nearly soulful “Downtown At Dawn” has never sounded better, while the manic “Ignore That Door” illustrates incredible guitar work in a lively climate. The title track, which is one of the best, then recruits spoken work into a fusion sort of landscape that’s even a little funky, too.
The Demos portion offers us the single version of several tracks from Destiny Street, as well as the multifaceted “Smitten”, where some parallels to The Clash are present, and “Funhunt” finds itself in some form of iconoclastic garage rock. “Time” appears twice near the end, as both a calmer single version, and a well documented live track.
Hell was never pleased with the final mix of Destiny Street. In the early 2000’s, he came across a cassette of the rhythm tracks, to which he was able to redo the vocals and guitars. This would become the Repaired version. In 2019, 3 of the 4 original 24 track masters were recovered, which allowed Hell to fully remaster the body of work. This would become the Remixed version.
Now, 40 years later, Hell finally likes what he hears in Destiny Street, and he’s certainly not alone as this incredible project represents some of the best rock’n’roll coming out of New York in the early ‘80s. Add a nice thick booklet with new liner notes, and you’ve got a reissue that no one should pass up.
Travels well with: The Buzzcocks- The Way; Jesse Malin- Outsiders