The Stranger

It's fashionable to rank on Billy Joel. Hell, he brought it on himself with the 2nd act of his career in the 80s. Actually, this is one of those rare times when it's legitimate to talk about an artist's personal life impacts his professional work. Billy Joel made bank in the 70s, but his accountant embezzled it all and fled with his ill gotten gains to Brazil. (Joel's wife Christie Brinkley, an astute businesswoman who happened to also be a model, was the one who figured out he was being swindled.) Just about the time that Billy Joel was set to wind down his career, he was forced to go back to work and rebuild his fortune. It showed in his subsequent work. All the accusations against Joel, that he was a hack, a journeyman without a soul, an expert at mimicking other better artists, a charlatan and a fake, were seemingly confirmed by tripe like We Didn't Start The Fire and Pressure. But it wasn't always so. Billy Joel's earnestness and tin pan alley style songcraft and slick and mannered performance style couldn't be less fashionable nowadays, but he was actually a skilled musician who had a knack for penning sharply observed working class vignettes. Nowhere was this more evident than in The Stranger, Joel's commercial peak. Aside from Just The Way You Are, which was inescapable in weddings for at least a generation, the album is stuffed with earworms and memorable tales like Moving Out, Only The Good Die Young, Get It Right The First Time, and Scenes From an Italian Restaurant. Only the closer Everybody Has A Dream, with Billy Joel channeling his inner Ray Charles, tips into unrestrained bathos. For those who despise Billy Joel, I get it, but the craft and skill here are undeniable. I myself prefer my music much less mainstream, not so slick, etc, so I'll dun this pretty much perfectly executed album a star. 4/5

Fucking great album. Tons of tracks that stand out as singles, but also work together to tell a complete and compelling story

Yikes...Billy Joel. The natural reaction to being asked to listen to Billy Joel is to recoil. This is the man that brought the world Uptown Girl, after all. The video from the Westlife cover version of that song still occasionally frequents my nightmares. Those four (or is it five?) cherubic Irish scamps, running amok in some kind of 50s cafeteria, dancing with mops and buckets in their blue rockabilly shirts. How can I forgive Billy Joel for being the nexus event that led to that?! The problem is, you can't help but enjoy The Stranger. It's the sort of album you might expect The Special Forces to pump through a tannoy into a Guantanamo cell, on repeat - along with the Barney theme tune - assuming it will grind a terrorist suspect into confession, only to find it has indoctrinated them into being Kool-Aid-drinking, American Dream-obsessing aficionados. It's just so American. But it's the America of a not-too-distant but completely bygone era. Some pre-Internet other-world where people lived like the lead characters from Friends. Close your eyes and imagine Chandler Bing listening to 'Just the Way You Are', before running out into the hustle of Fifth Avenue in his navy cashmere overcoat and chasing after the girl of his dreams, barging people out of the way so that he can catch up with her and then have a panic attack and not tell her how he feels. Like Hootie and the Blowfish's 'Cracked Rear View', Billy Joel's 'The Stanger' is music for the Chandler Bings. Either that or it's music for the Patrick Batemans. But before you've worked out which one it is, you're hooked by the fun jingle-jangle of the opening track, Movin' Out, and it doesn't really matter either way. Then the piano from the title track kicks in and you recognise it as the sample from Xzibit's amazing 'At the Speed of Life' track 'The Foundation', and before you know it you've worked your way through the entire album to 'Everybody Has a Dream' and you've walked into a New York fashion outlet and bought an expensive navy cashmere overcoat of your very own. And when you leave that shop you're gunna have no choice but listen to The Stranger on your Walkman again as you hit the high street. Some people will look at you and see a Chandler Bing. Others will look at you and see a Patrick Bateman. But by this point you don't really care. You're living in some weird alternate early 90s white collar central park office block coffee shop wall street burst fire hydrant subway train American dream. Thanks a lot Billy Joel.

Just straight beautiful, catchy, well written songs

Every song is a stone cold hit. Short and sweet, leaves you wanting more.

I like where the first song goes "ACK, ACK, ACK, ACK, ACK".

Classic. I loved it, again.

Banger

The music and instrumentation in Billy's music is always fantastic, but his lyrical work and storytelling is a huge showstopper for me. "A bottle of red, a bottle of white/It all depends upon your appetite/I'll meet you any time you want/In our Italian Restaurant"? Come on, the only thing cheesier than that would be... Velveeta fondue. Things took a turn for the unsettling when I got around to actually listening to the lyrics of "Only The Good Die Young", and I honestly gave up on the album after that. Billy Joel is the straighter, less interesting, slightly creepy Elton John, and I'd honestly be perfectly fine never hearing a song of his agian.

I almost knocked a star off because of the saxophone solo but I couldn't do it. The storytelling on display here is top-notch. Joel's performances are flawless and his songwriting is compelling. Just a really great album stacked with songs that are full of all the feels.

Is it because you'd have to turn the dial in the car just right in order to get the right channel, so you just left it on something that played static free music and so you heard a lot of Billy Joel? Or is this really an album you want to be stranded on an island with?

Very fun! Many classics

Really good album, so used to hi greatest hits it was great to listen to the original album and get the added song flow. Loved it.

I'm a big fan of Billy Joel. This was my first introduction to Billy Joel when I was a child. Still embodies New York Romanticism to me. I love the balance of this album there's so many fun songs.

YESSSS UNCLE BILLY Literal excellence Favorites: Just The Way You Are Vienna She's Always A Woman Everybody Has A Dream

Pour la petite anecdote, Billy Joel avait écrit cet album en pensant le proposer à Michael Jackson. Ce dernier refusa et c'est finalement Shrek qui eut la chance de l'interpréter.

Money!

In the pantheon of adult contemporary singer-songwriters who meandered out of the 70s, Billy Joel sits somewhere in the middle with Springsteen. A touch better than the bland whiteness of Rod Stewart, John Mellencamp, and Bryan Adams, but no where near the quality of Warren Zevon or solo Paul Simon. It's not an awful album, but it shouldn't really be on a list of essential listening. This is an album to listen to while bonding with your aunt over herbal tea and zucchini bread while she busts out old 35mm pictures of bridges she took while on a bicycle tour of the US.

Classic Joel Scenes from an Italian good for long-form Pretty good shortforms/casuals

A couple of songs I was not familiar with, but the ones I know are some of my favourites.

moving owt lol this has all the best billy joel song imo hence this is the best billy joel album for me (so far)

A grand record! It turns out I know every song on this album from my childhood. It's an album about life, modernity, struggle, love, death, all of it. It has an everyman quality about it and the production is divine. Not one bad song on the record. I bought it just now!

This album forms almost a quarter of the tracks on his Greatest Hits collection (5 out of 21), but they're all good.

Holy toledo. This is an entire career on a single album. Pretty damn impressive.

grande billy joel do uptown girl

Loved it already!

Hell of an ear for a tune but the beat leaves a lot to be desired. As for his stories, simply not engaging, which has something to do with his treacly McCartney voice, and even more to do with hollowness plain and simple. Songs about nothing more than being songs.

too close to be impartial. If that's what it's all about... Billy, I love you just the way you are.

Bloody loved this album. What a singer and songwriter he is.

Loved it. Each song was like a story and I’ll definitely be listening multiple times.

bellisimo

This album promotes ear strengths- varied and catchy and I haven’t heard it all together before

Really quite good. Certified bangerlicious

Amazing and classic album.

top 2 by mister Joel

Great listen. Very familiar already but fun to hear all the hits.

Awesome mix of storytelling, pop piano, and Americana. I’d heard many of the songs on this album before but never listened to the entire thing in one sitting.

Great record…makes me wanna get wasted on Schlitz, hop in my sports car and crash it into my neighbors front yard in the Hamptons.

This is the album that put Billy on the map. I know, his early stuff has its moments, but this back with his follow up "52nd Street", were seminal works of this fame and success. Good job!

Aah ich ha da album eigentlich mega gern. Leider het mer de finnerty de billy joel bitz kaputt gmacht. Trotzdem immer no sehr gern, bsunders de song vienna losi sehr viel. Git e knapps füfi wel die letschte paar songs nüm soo guet sind aber gad guet gnueg

I listened to this record for an entire summer when I was 16 working as a janitor in a grade school. Whenever I hear "heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack" I get magically transported back to the roof of Cumberland Elementary where I'm smoking a joint and blasting Billy Joel on a cheap Rayovac boom box at 9 in the morning and I gotta say it's a pretty great god damn place to be.

Thought I was listening to his greatest hits album because every song is a BANGER 5 ⭐️

Billy bangers

Hit after hit!!! Incredible stuff billy

It's been a while since I've listened to this album. Billy Joel is another artist that I nearly categorically adore. I like every tune on this album, but can understand why other people don't. Still, for me, it's 5 stars!

There is a dearth of truly memorable songs in today’s pop landscape, and this is an album full of them. The Stranger is a tight, beautifully produced collection of catchy, classic songs. It’s one of the great albums of its era and delightful to listen to, always. It’s impressive to me looking now how many hits reside on this album. Some of the songs have been overplayed in the past 40 years, but they also ended up being true classics. It’s hard to hear this album and not find a song you know very well. Joel's longevity is a testament to his singular talents as a singer and songwriter, as well as the universal likeability of this music. Admit it, it's also hard to listen to this album and not find yourself in a good mood. Fave songs: The Stranger, Vienna, I'm Movin' Out, Only the Good Die Young

I was already familiar with this one so it was great to have an excuse to put it on the new system at home. Anyone who doesn’t rate this album 5 stars is crazy.

Classic. Love every song. Five out of Five Stars. Favorite songs. Scene's From an Italian Restaurant, Vienna, The Stranger, Everybody Has a Dream and all the hits (Moving Out, Just the Way you are, Only the Good Die Young, She's Always a Woman).

5/5 - Super cool. Whoever said he was in between EJ and PmC was right - very nice vibe to it

Great album.

A great album start to finish! I didnt realise how many of Joel's greatest songs were on this album.

Best Songs: - Movin Out - Vienna Love the outro

Hit after hit, it's almost a cliche.

Great album

Amazing classic album! Fav tracks include Vienna, Movin’ Out, and Only the Good Die Young! However, each track was great and very enjoyable!

Great album front to back! Big fan

Absolute classic. Non stop hits. Love the key changes. Probably the best album in a brilliant career.

Classic

Every song is a stone cold hit. Short and sweet, leaves you wanting more.

One of best pop albums of the 70s, of all-time indeed. An inspired man at the peak of his powers.

Joel at the height of his songwriting powers. All the songs are gems and a few are absolute belters! First class.

WHO NEEDS A HOUSE OUT IN HACKENSACK? IS THAT ALL YOU GET FOR YOUR MONEY????? What a throwback! Movin’ Out in particular immediately pulls The Stranger into the upper echelon of albums for me. I used to listen to that song when driving to my high school in Hackensack. It was my battle cry “I’m getting out of here” song. The nostalgia!! Great album, love the sax and love the piano. The Stranger, Vienna, She’s Always a Woman, Everybody Has a Dream. Classic

No. 204/1001 Movin' Out 4/5 The Stranger 4/5 Just The Way You Are 4/5 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant 4/5 Vienna 5/5 Only The Good Die Young 4/5 She's Always A Woman 5/5 Get It Right The First Time 4/5 Everybody Has a Dream 4/5 Average: 4,22 Wow! This was really a great listen from front to back.

Funny how I knew several tracks on this. It must be a testament to BJ's genius as a songwriter. He's not my normal listening material, but this is very good. No Rock songs on here and I don't care! A 4 star album.

He's got such a great voice. Somewhere in between Paul McCartney and Elton John, but man some of those lyrics are so creepy. Even when he's trying to be nice comes off so condescending. I'll split the difference

The popular songcraft here is strong but the problem is that it doesn’t serve much of a purpose. If you took Paul McCartney at his schmaltziest, added some overproduced Paul Simon with all the substance trimmed away, and finished with a dash of Elton John glitz, this is what you’d get. He absolutely nailed what he was trying to make, it seems, but it’s all so flavorless I can’t imagine why you’d want to try it. Plus the second half really reveals a core of misogyny that poisons anything decent there.

Wow, all I see are 4 and 5 star ratings for this so I'll probably take flak for this. Someone already stole my line that he's a less interesting and cheesier version of Elton John and I fully concur. There's no doubt that he has a knack for writing catchy pop songs, but the shmaltz factor here is simply too high for me. He somewhat redeems himself with the less commercial songs like the Stranger and Get it right. But he knows his audience and and I guess he hits the nail right on the head with this album that is loaded with bestsellers.

This album is basically filled with every one of his radio hits save "Piano Man". Overall, was never a Billy Joel fan, and this just reconfirms that. Somewhat of an off-brand Elton John, who I'm also not a fan of.

I respect Billy Joel's songwriting chops. These are incredibly successful songs and have been played on radio a bazillion times, and I know most of this album backwards just from the ubiquitous nature of the thing. But it bores me to tears. Billy Joel is not rock and roll (despite Billy's later protestations); it's much more popular song based in the Broadway tradition. And it is very successful in that mold. But I don't really need it in my life. Sorry.

Schlock.

Billy Joel. The stranger in the bath, the finger in the anus. This man is so addicted to cheese that he goes to bed each night wearing pyjamas made entirely out of dairylea triangles.

One of the great singer-songwriter records in pop rock, hooks and catchy melodies aplenty. 9/10

this is literally the music I listened to growing up.

Really is a great album

All time favourites

Amazing. Billy Joel at his best

Billy

Hit after hit, beautiful arrangements and production. Excellent vocals and instrumentals.

Big ass 4.5

Billy Joel

God, this was so awesome. It's like the perfect '70s pop-rock album. It's not unlike Bruce Springsteen's music in many ways, though I prefer the more rustic-feeling production here. It's not as shiny as, say, 'Born to Run' but it still has that fine polishing layer you'd expect out of a superstar artist like Billy. The instrumentation is gorgeous. This is classified as piano rock, but there's more to the story, this isn't Jerry Lee Lewis-type piano rock. 'She's Always a Woman' for example has this delicate acoustic guitar intertwined with its sweet core piano line. It's a soft song while the ambitious 'Scenes from an Italian Restaurant' goes in a "jazzier" direction. It's such a nuts song, constantly switching instrumental directions, nicely complementing its cinematic imagery. This song may also have my favorite vocal performance on here. 'Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)' was a great opener but it pissed me off because I knew for a fact I'd heard that chorus before, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out from where. 'Vienna' reminded me a lot of 'Desperado' by the Eagles and especially Cat Steven's 'Father and Son' given that it's one of those comforting "advice" type songs - it's sweet. So yeah, good shit. No idea how I slept on Billy Joel for so long given the fact that he's like the fourth highest-selling solo artist in the US or something. There's a reason people dig him but better late than never I guess.

yet another big name in this list, billy joel's songs break through traditional pop norms in arguably one of the greatest albums of the decade. with strong expression and ambition, these pop songs are some of the best to be ever put out on radiowaves. i think it's quite possibly so defining that if we sent more records to space, like the voyager... this should be a PIVOTAL example of modern pop music in the 20th century.

great album. greatest. tops

I love this album. Some songs feel like a soundtrack from a film. I like the whistle and piano parts.

Loved it. Billy Joel is the man

Not a bad song on this whole album, and almost every one is a complete classic. Billy Joel is an incredibly talented songwriter, every track is just beautiful. And of course his piano playing is amazing, just effortlessly cool. The band he put together is great as well. All in all, highly recommended.

Greatest album of all time.

one of my favourite album from Billy Joel. all classics...

Absolutely brilliant

Five star pop album. Nearly every single one of the songs contained in this album are timeless hits, and the rest are well-crafted songs.

A great record.

A class act! Honestly almost the whole album contains classic bops. I loved it a lot. Movin' out is the highlight but it's not too far up compare to the other ones.

I’ve always loved this album. It’s the one I recommend to people who are aware of Billy Joel only as “the Piano Man” guy. Such a solid record. Not a bad track on here. Few songs are more perfect than Vienna. A career-defining masterpiece, in my opinion. “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun. You know that only the good die young.” ✌️ 5/5 Highlights: Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) Vienna Only the Good Die Young

This is the best Billy Joel album. 6/5

The first album I ever bought and it still holds up. Classic tunes well played and very well produced. Liked Songs Added: I'm Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) Just The Way You Are Only The Good Die Young She's Always A Woman

Billy is by far the best composer singer from the 80s pop rock era and maybe more. This album is perfect. All hits, ones that are not hits are awesome, the mix, the sound, the lyrics, the transitions to next song and how it all makes sense. Top 20 albums ever

Hit after Hit

This album is the definition of a 5. Almost every song is a hit and contagiously catchy (Movin' Out, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Vienna, Only the Good Die Young, She's Always a Woman). An album that you wouldn't mind starting over as soon as it's finished. 9.25/10 (4.625/5)

LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT! Scenes from an Italian Restaurant is my new fav song

An insane track list that’s hard to believe is not a greatest hits album. Vienna stands out above the rest to me.