Billy Joel

Joel delivered a radio-perfect smash with The Stranger in 1977, and its title track is the quintessential Joel song -- a melody you can't shake, that clean studio feel, and mean-spirited lyrics. He turns that trick with sharpshooter accuracy on this one; chances are you know six of the nine songs on here by heart.

This is the first Billy Joel album in some time that has significantly expanded his repertoire.
While Streetlife Serenade and Turnstiles had occasional moments, the bulk of Joel's most
memorable material was on Cold Spring Harbor -- despite its severe technical flaws -- and
Piano Man, which gave him his only major single success. This time, while such songs as
"Movin' Out" and "Just the Way You Are" are forced and overly simplistic, the ima... More >

Having concealed his egotism in metaphor as a young songpoet, he achieved success when he uncloseted the spoiled brat behind those bulging eyes. But here the brat appears only once, in the nominally metaphorical guise of "the stranger." The rest of Billy has more or less grown up. He's now as likable as your once-rebellious and still-tolerant uncle who has the quirk of believing that OPEC was designed to ruin his air-conditioning business. (Grade - B-)