Streetlife Serenade

Artist: Billy Joel
Label: Sony
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Enhanced
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 074643314626
EAN: 0074643314626
ASIN: B000002539

Release Date: 1990-10-25

Streetlife Serenade

Related Categories:

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters

| Pop | Styles | Music

Soft Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)

| Classic Rock | Styles | Music

CDs $7 - $10

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CDs $7 - $10

All Bargain Titles

All Bargain Titles

CDs $7 - $10

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Tracks:

Streetlife Serenader
Los Angelenos
The Great Suburban Showdown
Root Beer Rag
Roberta
The Entertainer
Last Of The Big Time Spenders
Weekend Song
Souvenir
The Mexican Connection

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Customer Reviews:

Bring on that Root Beer Rag, LA Billy!.......2005-08-03

While a few songs drag, this is one of Joel's most interesting albums. It really produced no big hits (a rarity), but has some of his best early work. There is a rift developing between "LA Billy" and "NY Billy," represented by his sardonic accounts of "Los Angelinos," which by the way, is the best rocker on the album. It would have made a better single than "The Entertainer." Fans know Billy would eventually move back to NY, but his western singing is amusing (he even loses the NY accent and attitude for this set). Root Beer Rag is pure genius and pure fun; it's amazing very few people have heard it. It, alone, is worth the price of the CD.

Cool album!.......2005-03-02

Billy Joel,still under contract with Columbia Records,immediately began work on this album following the release of PIANO MAN. This is Joel's third album overall,but the second Columbia one. The only Top 20 hit from this album is THE ENTERTAINER,not to be confused with Marvin Hamlisch's song of the same title from the 1973 Paul Newman-Robert Redford film THE STING. Every song was composed by Joel. That song would later appear on the compact disc GREATEST HITS VOL. 1 & VOL. 2(the LP and cassette doesn't contain it). STREETLIFE SERENADER and LOS ANGELENOS would be recorded live in 1980 for 1981's SONGS IN THE ATTIC. This album features two instrumental tracks,ROOT BEER RAG and THE MEXICAN CONNECTION. RBR would inspire the postally-requested Billy Joel Newsletter. Hey,since those songs have no lyrics,Joel could have symphony orchestras record their own versions(Joel has been writing classical music since 1999). The other songs are good.

For pity's sake get this, it's brilliant!.......2003-04-06

Okay, I know I sound a bit like I'm promoting the damn thing rather than actually just raving about it, but I genuinely believe that this is Billy Joel's finest albums. It is because of him that I wanted to learn to play the piano to a relatively high level, but it is because of root beer rag, possibly the best song joel has ever done, that I will keep practising. Even though it is only instrumental, it is pure genius.
Souvenir is a real thought provoker at 2 minutes long and streetlife serenader and roberta are also lovely ballads to listen to. But, don't get bored by those thoughts because the entertainer is there to kick into life with its crescendo of sound. The weekend song also helps out if there was ever any problem of it getting to quiet!
Los angelinos is pretty good, and last of the big time spenders and the great surburban showdown are great fun to play all you piano players out there. And of course, the mexican connection, which possibly seems out of place on this album, but is still pretty good if root beer rag is not your thing. However, if root beer rag is not your thing, there's something wrong..!

Not for everyone, but great.......2003-03-10

This CD is a little off the path Billy Joel would carve in later years; it was made before Billy formed his steady band, and the studio players he employed do give the music kind of a country twang. In addition, the Moog synthesizers, etc. definitely date the album. Despite all this, this CD represents one of Joel's finest hours. This is a unique portrait of an artist before commercialization and fame (i.e., before he came out with "The Bridge," which states that the name "Billy Joel" is a registered trademark), and the result is that it's just honest, soulful music, played hard. With the possible exception of "Songs in the Attic," I don't think I've heard another Billy Joel album as energetic as this one; he really pours his heart and soul into these performances. The lyric material, too, is as brilliant as anything Joel ever wrote. "The Entertainer," of course, provides a satirical look at what it takes to be "famous" in America's music world, but "The Great Suburban Showdown" is a surprising standout: it's a bitingly sardonic attack on the monotony of suburbia. "Weekend Song" is one of those high twang-factor songs, but it's a rocker nonetheless, and makes the kind of impression Joel wanted to make with "Glass Houses" six years later--except that he sounds even more impassioned here. This is also the case with the funky "Los Angelenos." "Last of the Big Time Spenders" and "Roberta" are both ballads, although "Spenders" is more bluesy while "Roberta" is more reflective (and it handles the subject matter better than Sting's "Roxanne," in my humble opinion). This album also contains what was until recently a rarity in the Billy Joel world: instrumentals. "The Mexican Connection" is another surprising standout; it definitely sounds like the '70s, but it's a funky-yet-relaxing piano-driven piece that does indeed sound like a summer day on the beaches of Mexico (or at least, like my conception of same). "Root Beer Rag" is just awesome in its virtuosity, and provided America with its first real indication that the "Piano Man" could back up that title in spades. Not much to say about "Streetlife Serenader," actually; it's an OK song, but it's not up to the level of the rest of this album. The thing is, that level is surprisingly high. This is Billy Joel in his formative years as a musician, and knowing where he would go from here makes this music, which is already brilliant, that much more enthralling.

Music Album:

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