Single LP versions also came out in '85 in some markets, but I gather that's it's difficult to find them. The first record covers the period between 1973 and 1980, while the second LP takes it up until 1985. There are several versions of this LP with various changes to the track listing. I have the Canadian pressing, which contains:
A1 Piano Man
A2 Say Goodbye To Hollywood
A3 New York State Of Mind
A4 The Stranger
A5 Just The Way You Are
B1 Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
B2 Only The Good Die Young
B3 She's Always A Woman
B4 My Life
B5 Big Shot
B6 Honesty
C1 You May Be Right
C2 It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
C3 Pressure
C4 Allentown
C5 Goodnight Saigon
D1 Tell Her About It
D2 Uptown Girl
D3 The Longest Time
D4 You're Only Human (Second Wind)
D5 The Night Is Still Young
This record was a gift. Honestly, I haven't listened to it in years and years and years, not since 1985, I'm guessing. According to Allmusic, refers to this record as "an innocent delight that unwittingly closes Joel's classic period." Well, so much for the classic period, I guess. The statement seems a bit harsh to me, but I guess it's true. After all, I do not think I have ever heard any later Joel songs. That may sound impossible to you, but I can't think of any that I know. Oh, wait, I guess there's We Didn't Start the Fire. But, that's probably it.
I recall that a guy who lived in my residence picked up a copy of this record. It seemed strange to me, because he had otherwise generally good taste in music. He would often turn up the stereo as he played this record with not a hint of irony anywhere.
I know a guy who has stated emphatically that his favourite album of all time is Billy Joel's An Innocent Man. I know it sounds wrong or like it's a joke, but the man is serious and very earnest. It's one of the most astonishing things I have ever heard. Bizarrely, he likes some music which I quite like. I've never been able to understand this, but I suspect he heard this record at a certain time and you just never know.
In any case, the good news is that the only song I detest (as opposed to dislike) is Uptown Girl. The remaining tracks I dislike, some more intensely than others. Maybe I just don't like doo-wop and Joel's take on soul music.
Let's get one thing out of the way immediately. The Nylon Curtain's jacket design is awful. I hate it. That's the best they could do? Maybe I am missing the point.
Allentown is a really good song that discusses a very real issue. I give that song a thumbs up. Laura sounds like Joel is channeling the Beatles, but with swearing. I'm not sure what's going on in Pressure. It seems to presage Van Halen's Jump, in the employment of primitive synthesizers. I don't think anyone could possibly have any issues with Goodnight Saigon. She's Right on Time is boring. A Room of Our Own is a tune that makes me think that Joel wished he was born 10 years earlier. Surprises holds no surprises. Scandinavian Skies is Beatles plus heroin. Where's the Orchestra?, again, is reminiscent of the Beatles.
The jacket on my copy has been damaged by water. It's sort of appropriate: I think the previous owner wept rivers of disappointment while listening to this record for the first time.
Despite being released after Glass Houses, which was Joel's seventh record, this live LP includes only tunes from his first four records (Cold Spring Harbor, Piano Man, Streetlife Serenade, and Turnstiles). The only tune anyone probably knows from his first four albums is Piano Man, and that song does not appear on this record. I guess he was trying to fluff his early catalogue.
I flinch every time I hear him sing "I seen the lights go out on Broadway." That is a grammatical construction common in my home town and region, and, to my ears, it grates like fingernails on a blackboard. I just cannot stand it. My sister, for one, always says "I seen..." My dad always said things like "I done steaks on the BBQ last night." Oh, man. The weirdest thing is that I am certain most people know that it is incorrect, but they do it anyway, much like those who drop the 'g' in walkin', talkin', eatin'. That also makes me cringe, as does the use of anyways, rather than anyway.
Having said that, the first tune, Miami 2017 (hey, we are in 2017 right now), is not a bad song. New York has not been destroyed, but you never know what might happen under a Trump administration. I feel that this record is probably a great one for those who were serious fans of the first four records. Others might not enjoy it so much. I find it to be a bit weak and too much of the same, but I am not really a Joel fan.
In 1980, I had a friend with somewhat dubious taste in music. Apart from the Grease soundtrack, Glass Houses was a seminal record for him. My sister even bought a copy of this record. I was momentarily pleased with It's Still Rock an Roll to Me and You May be Right. They seemed like genuine pop efforts, but tracks like Don't Ask Me Why (and some others) argued against that conclusion. This album is still pop to me.
I sometimes think of Billy Joel as being as similarly un-hip as Phil Collins, and yet they somehow managed to have successful careers, with the former even marrying a supermodel. It's amazing what fame can do.
I can't recall how this item ended up in my
collection but I am sure that it, and all other Joel recordings, were
lawn sale pickups or given to me free.
The cover image on 52nd Street sends mixed messages. I think the first time I saw it, I thought, this can't be a rock record. What kind of rock star plays a trumpet? I say this as someone who made a fairly serious mistake in my youth: I chose the trombone in music class, and later dearly wished that I had chosen the more compact trumpet, or perhaps the clarinet. Try taking the trombone home on the school bus and you will see what I mean.
And then, there's the denim with suit jacket combination that is undermined by the inclusion of a tie. But there are white sneakers, which I admit were cool in 1978. He's also holding his horn on the back cover and the inner sleeve. Maybe this horny posturing was and attempt to distance himself from the Piano Man?
I don't really mind My Life and Big Shot. I dislike Honesty. IMHO, the songs are strong pop tunes with a flash of jazz. It's not essential listening by any means.
B-1 is for the good girls
It's Only the Good Die Young
- Certain Songs, The Hold Steady
Let's clutch and kiss and sing and shake tonight let's try to levitate
You Catholic girls start much too late
- Both Crosses, The Hold Steady
If you had to evacuate the planet and there was only room to take one Billy Joel record on your trip to Alpha Centauri, The Stranger is the one to take along on the journey. Wikipedia tells me that Rolling Stone ranked this record at number 70 in its list of top 500 albums of all time. I could easily name 200 or 300 hundred better records, but I think the ranking speaks to my argument that this is indeed his best record.
This album reminds me of my sister. I remember sitting in her room in her bean bag chair, listening to her records. Sometime she was there; sometimes, she was out on-the-town. She is four years older, so her musical choices weren't always mine. I never liked her Cleo Lane records but I loved Some Girls from the Rolling Stones, and her Led Zeppelin records. I was nonplussed by Jean Luc Ponty, couldn't care less about ABBA, but this record found a partially sympathetic ear. It's another record that is mostly about nostalgia.
This record was produced by Phil Ramone (no, he wasn't the eighth Ramone).
I quite enjoy a few tracks on this LP, like Movin' Out (Anthony's Song), The Stranger, Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, and Only the Good Die Young, for example. I would pick the title track as the best song on the LP and I would also nominate Just The Way You Are as the worst. I'm also not a fan of She's Always a Woman.
"And the Meat Loaf to the Billy Joel.
Certain songs, they get so scratched into our souls"
- Certain Songs, The Hold Steady
I'm not really a Billy Joel fan, but if Chuck Klosterman can admit to being a fan, I guess I can justify having some Billy Joel records in my collection. I have a copy of this record because I paid $1 for it. Sometimes, the price of a record will persuade me to buy a record I normally would not consider owning. In this case, the record is practically mint, and still in shrink wrap.
I don't think that there is a person alive in the western world who has never heard the track Piano Man. It's just one of those songs that really grabbed the attention of people seemingly everywhere. What I didn't know, until very recently, was that this track was a fictionalized account of Joel's experiences working as a lounge singer. I think that gives the tune a little more gravitas, but I am still not convinced that this is a great work of art. It's simply familiar.
Another track that people might know is The Ballad of Billy the Kid, which sounds like a weak Elton John impersonation. Die-hard fans will love this LP while more casual fans will pay some attention to certain songs.
This is the kind of record you would break out at a dinner party of middle aged parents keen to memorialize their youth. I imagine this would be followed by Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Elton John's Greatest Hits (Volume 1). It might be a great soundtrack to a middle-age dinner party.
Welcome to part two of my whimsical countdown of the most overrated stars in music. As I said in the first post, I am excluding those talentless acts that are known to stink, like Jacko the Whacko, etc. And now, number 9....
9) Billy Joel - This had to be expected, coming after Elton John at number 10. In some respects, the Piano Man is a poor man's Elton. They have so much in common, they even toured together. But, I believe that Elton is a far superior pianist and his songs are far more musical.
They share an uncanny ability to write some serious duds. In Billy's case, one only has to think of Only the Good Die Young, Big Shot, and Just the Way You Are, She's Always a Woman, the ridiculous Uptown Girl, and many more! On the plus side, Joel composed Allentown, clearly his best song, both in musical style and message. Well, that's just my opinion.
I couldn't help thinking about Billy on Tuesday, when I dropped into a record store. The dude next to me was purchasing some sort of special edition of The Stranger. Why would anyone do that? I wondered. True, there was a moment in my life when I was momentarily interested in his music, but that faded and all that remains in one piece of vinyl. I will sell if for the best offer.
The good news is that Billy retired in 1993. The bad news is that he still tours and pumps out a series of greatest hits CDs. The even worse news is his foray into "classical" music. I guess he thinks he's Paul McCartney. Joel had considerable "help" in composing the pieces on Fantasies & Delusions, so I am not sure if it even qualifies as a Billy Joel album. On the other hand, the album lives up to it's name. Others have been harsher in their criticisms. Just read the one star reviews at Amazon and you'll see what I mean.
What's the matter with the songs he's singin' Can't you tell that they're pretty lame After listenin' to a couple albums Well, they all start to sound the same
So he tried to change his musical style He tossed all his ballads in the circular file Then he found the punk sound Breakin' ground all around It's still Billy Joel to me
What's the matter with the tune he's writin' Well, you know it's gonna be a smash It's so nice when you're a big name artist Doesn't matter if it sounds like trash
Now everybody thinks the new wave is super Just ask Linda Ronstadt or even Alice Cooper It's a big hit, isn't it Even if it's a piece of junk It's still Billy Joel to me
Woah, it doesn't matter what the critics say about him 'Cause he doesn't worry how they feel When you're record's sellin' millions and it's goin' triple platinum You don't worry 'bout your next meal 'Cause money is no big deal
Maybe he should dye his hair bright pink And stick a safety pin through his cheeks Then he'd really fit the new wave image But he couldn't sit down for weeks
Don't you know about the record business, honey You gotta be trendy if you wanna make some money Now everybody's sayin' that he sure sounds funny But it's still Billy Joel to me
All right, Alfred Ooooooh
I can hardly wait 'til his next album Well, I'll bet it's gonna be the rage Buy a ticket to his next big concert Well, I wonder what he'll do on stage
It might be disco and it might be the blues Or maybe even somethin' like the B-52's Just a handclap, finger snap Even if it's mindless pap It's still Billy Joel to me
Everybody's sayin' that he sure sounds funny But it's still Billy Joel to me
