And luckily Joel was from an era when an artist had time to nurture his craft – since he had to make four so-so albums before he hit his creative stride with The Stranger. He may not have survived in today’s pop music climate where artists are quickly disposed of after an unsuccessful first or second album. I would also argue that it would take an artist some practice before he’s able to nail the kind of quality songwriting and studio savvy that is evident on The Stranger.
A lot is speculated about how autobiographical The Stranger is and how Joel exorcised his demons on the album, and I’m sure it is true in some sense because, like Paul McCartney says, “…that’s the lovely thing of songwriting: whether you like it or not, you’re in the song.” But what I think is more interesting about the music on The Stranger is the way that the listener makes the songs his/her own and I think just about everyone equates these songs with some kind of nostalgia… and it’s not nostalgia about Billy Joel’s life, it’s nostalgia from their own lives. Find me someone in New York, or the tri-state area for that matter, who doesn’t feel something individually special when they hear “New York State of Mind”.
Joel wrote two of his biggest ballads for The Stranger (“Just the Way You Are” and “She’s Always A Woman”), but it was also the album from which Billy and his band of buddies became real rock stars. I mean, who doesn’t love that guitar riff on “The Stranger”? And although “Only The Good Die Young” sports acoustic guitar rather than electric, its message is pure rock n’ roll. A couple of Joel’s best story-narrative songs appear on the album too (“Movin’ Out” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”). The Stranger is just packed with hits — and the kind of hits that never seem to wear out their welcome.
This Sony Legacy box set edition of The Stranger is an excellent addition to any Billy Joel fan’s collection. I would even recommend it to casual fans and especially to those who are looking for a starting place in their Billy Joel fandom. One thing I must mention, though, is that the album has been remastered to modern mastering standards, (something most listeners won’t even notice), but it roughly means that everything is super-compressed and maximized, basically louder.
Article comments
1 - franklyn
a certain type of music listener likes to hate on billy joel, but the fact is, he is a fantastic song writer. he has written SOOO many hits, and even if his style is not your thing, credit must be paid to his talent as composer, arranger and storyteller.
he's a damn fine storyteller and i've been loving billy since i knew what music was.
2 - dave
Excellent review, Mike.
The other day you were talking about records in your parents record collection and it made me think about how certain records keep a special space in your heart, probably since you've heard them from such a young age. The Stranger is definitely one of those for me. I hadn't listened to it in an age, this reissue is a great reminder.