The Stranger

Artist: Billy Joel
Label: Sony
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Enhanced
Media: Audio Cassette

UPC: 074646938447
EAN: 0074646938447
ASIN: B00000EJ4B

Release Date: 1998-10-20

The Stranger

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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

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Tracks:

Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Stranger
Just the Way You Are
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
Vienna
Only the Good Die Young
She's Always a Woman
Get It Right the First Time
Everybody Has a Dream

Similar Items:

52nd Street
Piano Man
Glass Houses
Turnstiles [Enhanced Version]
An Innocent Man

Amazon.com essential recording

This, pop superstar Joel's breakout LP, came years after he first hit the charts with the novelty-ish "Piano Man." In the meantime, the New York-based songwriter released two lackluster and stylistically confused platters that blunted interesting songs with a sound that was neither Elton mellow nor Elton attitude. Produced by Phil Ramone, The Stranger took those who had written Joel off as a one-hit wonder by surprise ("Just the Way You Are" was among the biggest hits of 1977) and it remains a solid introduction to Joel's restless muse at a crucial point in his career. It invited a few comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, with its prominent sax breaks, hard-edged rebel-rockers ("Only the Good Die Young"), and slice-of-life dramatics ("Scenes From an Italian Restaurant"), recounting life in a lower middle-class (Eastern Urban) setting; but Joel's chameleonic, formalist approach to pop wasn't to be so easily pigeonholed (Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain, An Innocent Man...). --Don Harrison

Customer Reviews:

Billy Joel is Near His Peak Here.......2007-05-21

After a long absence, Billy Joel came out with this gem. If you are a fan of his, you absolutely MUST grab this CD.

Billy Joel continues his musical adventures with his familiar rolling piano lines, using the entire range of the keyboard and complementing it with adventuresome melodies and heartfelt, clever lyrics. Yet Billy Joel is none too content to merely fit in with a trend. Here he has a band that is very complementary to his many melodic changes, his whimsical harmonics, and his utterly creative way of combining lyricism with melody.

The album is intended to be conceptual, and the LP opens with the thematic Stranger- a slow introduction with a soft piano line, then it breaks into the song itself, with jazzy, assertive sax/brass/lead guitar accompaniments.
Then the whimsical, jazzy, humorous Anthony's song with it's line "Trading in a Chevy for a Cad-i-lac-yac-yac-yac-yac, You oughta know by now". OK, so he does sing with a thick Long Island accent, but that's a part of his color. The beautiful hit "Just the Way You Are" is here, with its heartfelt lyricism and gentle electronic melodic piano- a Joel classic! The long "Italian Restaurant" is a scenic, moody, nostalgic piece with Joel's trademark rolling melodic piano lines- be patient and let yourself be drawn into this pop masterpiece. "She's Always a Woman" is an attractive heartfelt song, even if it seems a filler compared to the other material. It did become another hit for Billy Joel. The only imperfect song in this collection is "Everybody Has a Dream"- for some reason, Joel has an alternate vocalization that is grating to my ears. It's still an above average song.

Billy Joel is a unique pop talent who must have appealed to millions of listeners, as his record sales attest to. Once in a while, an exceptionally talented perfomer makes it big in entertainment. And few deserved to more than Billy Joel.

classic.......2007-03-16

Very diverse, catchy, well-written, -arranged & -performed. I would put this up there with "Born to Run" by the Boss, "London Calling" by the Clash, "My Aim is True" by Costello, "Look Sharp" by Joe Jackson, "Howlin' Wind" by Graham Parker, "Highway 61" or "Infidels" by Dylan. Yes, they're somewhat different styles, but I'm referring to the various influences and genres played here.

The magnificent one, the beautiful one, the one and only one..........2007-03-02

This album sizzles with energy, honesty, and "I'll MAKE you pay attention" entertainment spirit. This was his big breakthrough album and it's not hard to see why. Every single track is excellent, and each very different from what went before. From start to finish, the emphasis is on simple Beatleish rock arrangements, played with finesse by a great backing band, with the piano front and center. It starts off with plain rock and roll - Moving Out, with its thumpy rhythm and brilliant ending. The Stranger (apart from its stylish intro and outro) is a bit more funky, with a lovely bridge/chorus. The much maligned Just The Way You Are suffers from a bit of cheesiness in production (Billy Joel calls this "Phil Ramone's Bossa Nova version), but is still a good heartfelt song for his first wife (whatever happened to her anyways?). The centrepiece of the album is Scenes, this is Billy Joel's tour-de-force to show everyone what he can do on the ivories. Vienna is a beautiful ballad, and Only the Good Die Young is a hilarious dance tune, still racy 30 years later. Always a Woman is played a bit stiffly on piano, and borders on cheesy lyrics, but still a great tune. The next two tracks are a *bit* weaker, but have their moments and are still brilliant songs, just in comparison with what came before... He came close to topping this album on Glass Houses but this still stands as his finest album. If you're going to have just one of his albums, I would recommend this.

Melodically interesting.......2007-03-01

Of course Joel will be known as one of the best melody-creators of our time. One can always hum a Joel melody effortlessly. Everyone knows Joel's famous tracks on this album, but I like "Get it Right...." because of the inherent truth to the title. It's a good song.

Still wondering if I should use "Just the Way You Are" at my wedding (like everyone else).

not one of Billy's best.......2007-01-28

This may be one of Billy Joel's most popular albums, but it's not the best one, in my opinion. That would be either Piano Man or 52nd Street.

The title song "the stranger" doesn't appeal to me anymore. At one time I considered it a classic, but no longer. However, "scenes from an italian restaurant" is probably the highlight of the album, and the beautiful ballad "she's always a woman to me" comes next. These are really good songs.

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