Billy Joel -
The Stranger (Columbia SACD)
Following
The Stranger and with the exception of the first three songs on the album, I had a really tough time with
52nd St. I felt that Billy Joel had let me down and was producing only hits, leaving the rest of the album as filler. In my later years (40’s), I really learned to appreciate
52nd St. and it had become one of my favorites in his catalog.
I remember when
The Stranger first came out. I was living in and going to high school in Ventura, California, and it was the Fall of 1977 when, while visiting a friend of my Step Mother’s, it was played for me and I was so blown away. I had to listen to it multiple times in that one day. I grew up in Chicago in my much younger years listening to Top 40 radio (WLS & WCFL). By the time I rebelled living with my Mom and made my way to California to be with my Father, I was heavily into hard rock and rock in general.
The Stranger is the album that got me appreciating popular music again. By this time, I was listening to Disco too. So, I had to open my mind to the diversity of popular music. After
The Stranger &
52nd St., all hell broke loose with
Glass Houses. To me, that album was the absolute peak of BJ’s (
those initials ring a bell.
) career.