| | Billy Joel Stranger CD Billy Joel Discography of CDs
 (5 Customer Reviews)
He's known to many as an inoffensive pop balladeer, but at the arguable peak of his career in the late '70s, Billy Joel released his darkest, most emotionally charged album. THE STRANGER abandons the grandstanding and broad melodic sweep of Joel's earlier records for a more intimate, introspective sound, effectively communicating Joel's ruminations on the perils of life and love. "Movin' Out" is something of an existentialist anthem, chronicling the way people's dreams are often irreparably crushed. The ominous-sounding title tune examines the many guises with which lovers disguise themselves in their attempts to entrap and deceive each other. "Only the Good Die Young" is hedonism at it's most iconoclastic. Even "She's Always a Woman," ostensibly a romantic piano ballad, is full of thorny, less-than-complimentary observations about its subject. Joel's emotional honesty would never be this clear-eyed and unabashed again.
Recorded at A&R Recording, New York, New York.
Personnel: Billy Joel (vocals, harmonica, piano, organ, keyboards); Hiram Bullock, Steve Burgh, Steve Khan, Hugh McCracken, David Brown (guitar); Richie Cannatta (fiddle, flute, soprano & tenor saxophones, organ, keyboards); Phil Woods (alto saxophone); Richard Tee (organ); Doug Stegmeyer (bass); Liberty DeVito (drums, percussion); Ralph MacDonald (percussion); Phoebe Snow, Lani Groves, Patti Austin (background vocals).
Re-Issue
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.Rolling Stone (p.96) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]here's impressive variety here: contemplative ballads...and impressionistic epics....Joel's melodic genius invites comparisons to Paul McCartney..."
Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.113) - Ranked #67 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...The real pleasure here is the specificity of the lyrics in the rock songs located in New York..."
Q (Magazine) (p.118) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "After four albums yielded only minor-league status, Billy JOel penned the most durable songs of his career....He was at the top of his game here."
Blender (Magazine) (p.93) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "A record where saxophones trump guitars and the piano is nearly the cradle of civilization, THE STRANGER cut against any number of grains in the era just after disco and punk had broken out..." Stranger Music | List Price | $7.99 (You save $0.70) | | Category | Rock Albums, Pop CDs, Rock/Pop, Live Performances, Enhanced CD, Singer/Songwriter | | Label | Columbia | | Orig Year | 1977 | | All Time Sales Rank |  2328  | | CD Universe Part number | 1090303 | | Catalog number | 69384 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Oct 20, 1998 | | Studio/Live | Studio | | Mono/Stereo | Stereo | | Producer | Phil Ramone | | Engineer | Jim Boyer | | Recording Time | 40 minutes | | Personnel | Ralph MacDonald - percussion
Patti Austin - background vocals
Richard Tee - organ
Hugh McCracken
Lani Groves
David Brown - guitar
Billy Joel - vocals, harmonica, piano, organ, keyboards
Phil Woods - alto saxophone
Hiram Bullock
Steve Khan
List all 15 contributors
| | Additional Info | Remastered; Enhanced CD |
Billy Joel Stranger Songs Stranger Music Review Average Rating: (4.6 out of 5 stars)   Great Album
Not a bad song on the disc
Absolutely fabulous
Listen to this album on your drive to work and you will be in a good mood all day.
Submitted by a reviewer (Ontario,Canada) 
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 The Stranger
Absolutely essential music! Beautiful lyrics recorded supurbly. Dim the lights, pure a glass of wine, put on the disc, and sit back in your love seat with your wife!
Submitted by Jalgood310 (Royal Palm Beach, FL)
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Billy Joel Doing What He Does Best!
This was an excellent album from Billy Joel, at least on an artistic front. However, production values are lacking, and even when I owned the half-speed master (audiophile record, for those who don't know), I played it the one time and I returned it, as I was that dissatisfied with the sound quality. The CD isn't much better either-you can repackage it all you want, but if the original master sounds like junk, there is nothing that you can do about it. If you aren't into the high fidelity scene like I am, then this is an excellent place to start your Billy Joel collection....however, if you are a hi-fi nut, I would start with an album like 52nd Street, or Glass Houses, and then work up the stomach to listen to The Stranger, but in all fairness, Billy Joel's outstanding songwriting quality is completely there, and so are the musical arrangements that he is known for!
Submitted by J.R. (Minnesota, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No ''Only The Good Die Young''
Billy Joel Is A Great singer I Love His Best Work.
Submitted by Lawrence_Simmons (Wallingford CT USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No A must for ALL Joel fans!
I bought this album back in the late 70's on vinyl and recently purchased the CD. This is one of my all time favorite albums. The clarity of the prose, the beauty in the composition, Joel is a gifted songwriter/composer and if you were never a fan before you will be after listening to this one. Even though recorded in the 70's the music still sounds as fresh today as it did then. A classic!
Submitted by Tracy (Jacksonville, Florida)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No | Have you heard this album? |  |
Purchase Stranger CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Billy Joel Piano Man CD (1973) Remastered; Enhanced CD
Stranger
 $7.59   
This edition of PIANO MAN is an Enhanced CD containing both a full audio program as well as a video clip for the song "Piano Man."
The title track from Billy Joel's major label debut, 1973's PIANO MAN, became a smash hit, and put the singer-songwriter/piano player on the musical map for good. A story-song, the verses consist of character sketches given by the resident musician at a bar-lounge, and these build toward a sweeping, melodically infectious chorus, and a melancholic, carnivalesque refrain. The tune demonstrates Joel's flair for narrative and lyrical detail, as well as his unmistakable knack for a catchy hook--qualities that would be the bedrock of his success through the 1970s and '80s.
Joel was still developing his trademark style here, and while the rest of the album doesn't quite measure up to the strength of "Piano Man," it fits quite neatly into the rubric of the one-man folk-rock artists of the era (namely Elton John, but also acoustic guitar-wielding troubadours like Harry Chapin). Still, there is evidence of Joel's signature tendencies throughout, like the tender love ballad "You're My Home" and the closer, "Captain Jack," a character-heavy story-song on the order of the title song. On the whole, PIANO MAN is an important step in Joel's development, and contains the musical and lyrical seeds that would sprout to full flower on albums like THE STRANGER, and subsequently catapult the artist to singer-songwriter stardom.
Personnel: ...
| | Billy Joel 52ND Street CD (1978) Remastered; Enhanced CD
Stranger
$7.59
Every major artist has at least one record that is the consummate definition of their style. Billy Joel has several. 52ND STREET, however, may be at the top of the heap. Following the ridiculously successful THE STRANGER, Joel didn't rest on his laurels. Instead he kept his songwriting skills moving forward into even deeper areas of exploration. His uniquely personal tales of emotional defiance and blue collar struggles take different, and sometimes darker forms this time to reveal an even richer creative side to the tough kid from Levittown.
This collection finds the piano man in a very solitary mood as he struggles with the influence of those around him in the raucous "Big Shot" and the beautiful ballad "Honesty." One of Joel's many signature songs, "My Life," is among the best anthems of self reliance ever written. The very creative "Zanzibar" and "Rosalinda's Eyes" explore jazz and Latin influences, respectively. Finally, the lesser known gem "Until The Night" is a grandiose tale of longing that is the emotional apex of the entire album. The end result is a stellar work that effectively puts the cap on the '70s phase of Joel's career.
Recorded at A&R Recording, Inc., New York, New York.
Personnel: Billy Joel (vocals, piano); Steve Khan (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); David Spinozza (acoustic guitar); Hugh McCracken (nylon-string guitar); George ...
| | Billy Joel Glass Houses CD (1980) Remastered; Enhanced CD
Stranger
$7.59
This edition of GLASS HOUSES is an Enhanced CD containing both a full audio program as well as video clips for the songs "Sometimes A Fantasy," "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me" and "All For Leyna."
All tracks have been digitally remastered using 24-bit technology.
As one can tell from the cover photo of a blue-jeaned, leather-jacketed Joel getting ready to throw a rock (a pun on the album title), GLASS HOUSES is the album where he attempts to lay waste his reputation as MOR balladeer. He accomplishes this feat by forging a harder, more rocking sound, with the help of guitarists Russell Javors and David Brown. Though such cuts as "You May Be Right" and "All For Leyna" are far more visceral than much of Joel's previous work, this consummate songwriter sacrifices none of the tunefulness and highly developed compositional chops that brought him fame.
On "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me," Joel even reaches back to the roots of the style, celebrating its timelessness despite passing musical trends. The elliptical, McCartneyesque ballad "Don't Ask Me Why" provides a breather. Joel's ...
| | Billy Joel An Innocent Man CD (1983) Remastered; Enhanced CD
Stranger
$7.59
This is where Joel reaches back to his roots, a process essential to a maturing artist who realizes he has to look at where he's from before he can move further ahead. Things get off to a jumping start with the organ-driven R&B of "Easy Money," somewhat reminiscent of "Gimme Some Lovin'." Joel touches on the styles of the '50s and early '60s on the street-corner doowop of "The Longest Time" and the Four Seasons homage "Uptown Girl" (written for his then-wife, fashion model Christie Brinkley).
Things get introspective on the moving, self-analytical title tune and the endearing pop ballad "Leave A Tender Moment Alone," which is graced by the harmonica of Toots Thielemans. While Joel was busy exploring the music of his boyhood on AN INNOCENT MAN, every tune still ...
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