| | Billy Joel Stranger CD Billy Joel Discography of CDs
 (6 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.
Composer: Billy Joel.
Personnel: Billy Joel (vocals, harmonica, piano, keyboards, synthesizer); Gwen Guthrie, Lani Groves, Patti Austin, Phoebe Snow (vocals, background vocals); Steve Khan (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar); Steve Burgh (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Hugh McCracken (guitar, acoustic guitar); Hiram Bullock (guitar, electric guitar); Dave Brown (guitar); Hugh MacDonald (acoustic guitar); Richie Cannata (fiddle, flute, clarinet, saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, organ, keyboards, wind); Dominic Cortese (accordion); Phil Woods (saxophone, alto saxophone); Richard Tee (organ); Liberty DeVitto (drums, percussion); Ralph MacDonald (percussion).
Audio Remasterer: Ted Jensen.
Recording information: A&R Studios, New York, NY.
Photographer: Jim Houghton.
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 $1.04) | | Category | Rock Albums, Pop CDs, Rock/Pop, Live Performances, Enhanced CD, Singer/Songwriter | | Label | Columbia | | Orig Year | 1977 | | All Time Sales Rank |  2256  | | CD Universe Part number | 1090303 | | Catalog number | 69384 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Oct 20, 1998 | | Studio/Live | Studio | | Mono/Stereo | Stereo | | Producer | Phil Ramone; Billy Joel | | Engineer | Jim Boyer; Phil Ramone | | Recording Time | 40 minutes | | Personnel | Ralph MacDonald - percussion
Hugh McCracken - guitar, acoustic guitar
Richard Tee - organ
Patti Austin - background vocals
Lani Groves
Billy Joel - vocals, harmonica, piano, organ, keyboards
David Brown - guitar
Phil Woods - saxophone, alto saxophone
Hiram Bullock - guitar, electric guitar
Steve Khan - guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar
List all 19 contributors
| | Additional Info | Remastered; Enhanced CD |
Billy Joel Stranger Songs Stranger Music Review Average Rating: (4.5 out of 5 stars)   List All Reviews 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) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
 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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FANTASTIC!!
A very well-rounded album, with a rich ensemble that never overdoes it, though I think that "Only the Good Die Young" belongs on "An Innocent Man".
Submitted by nychro7 (Boston)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 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 List All Reviews | 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 album
 $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 ...
| | Billy Joel 52ND Street CD (1978) Remastered; Enhanced CD
Stranger CD music
$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 ...
| | Billy Joel Glass Houses CD (1980) Remastered; Enhanced CD
Stranger music CDs
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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 ...
| | Billy Joel An Innocent Man CD (1983) Remastered; Enhanced CD
Stranger songs
$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 bears his distinctive stamp, and the album is one of his strongest.
Recorded ...
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DON'T SHOOT ME I'M ONLY THE PIANO PLAYER was the first of two 1973 albums that sealed Elton John's superstardom. It included his first U.S. #1 single, the nostalgic "Crocodile Rock," ...
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| | On A Carousel, 1963-1974: The Ultimate Hollies CD (2006)
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The Ultimate Hollies 1963-1974: On a Carousel combines every UK Top 20 and USA Top 20 Hollies hit, from 1964 to 1974 on one CD. The Hollies were superlative pop craftsmen and their exhilarating vocal harmonies remain some of the richest and most celebrated in the entire history of pop music. Compiled from the group's recordings for Parlophone and Polydor, this is hit after hit, 25 tracks and 77 minutes of unforgettable melodies. Every song contained here is a three-minute pop masterpiece: Bus Stop, Carrie Anne, Stop Stop Stop, On a Carousel, King Midas in Reverse, He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, The Air That I Breathe, all their greatest hits and more! With superb quality audio transferred from the original analogue masters, this is the perfect Hollies collection on one definitive CD.
In the United States, the Hollies don't always get their due as one of the truly great acts of the British Invasion era, but while the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks may have more hip cache, few bands consistently made better or more memorable singles, and this compilation proves the point with ease. Boasting 25 great tunes, On a Carousel, 1963-1974: The Ultimate Hollies features every song that the Hollies landed in the Top 20 in the United States and the United Kingdom, and the result is 78 minutes of pure pop bliss. The Hollies could rock the house when they were of a mind, as the cracking covers of "Stay" and "Just One Look" that open the set confirm, but it was when the group began following a more polished sound and Allan Clarke, Graham Nash and Tony Hicks locked their trademark harmonies into place that they established their identity as more than just another beat group. "Look Through Any Window," "Bus Stop," "On a Carousel," "Carrie Anne," "Stop Stop Stop," "Jennifer Eccles" -- pop record making doesn't ...
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$23.79 | | Beaten Awake Let's Get Simplified CD (2007)
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Beaten Awake's downtrodden, low-key indie rock has the whiff of something simultaneously rural and esoteric about it. Humble guitar figures are often worried out in a tentative, Gray Album-era Velvet Underground fashion. The voices have a bit of a creak to them, and the lyrics continually suggest a kind of congenital sadness and wonderment. (Idaho seems to be a clear predecessor, whether intentional or not.) Even when ...
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