- Mini-Disc (1 Jun 1998)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Columbia
- ASIN: B00004WXAN
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,303,594 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
'Songs in the Attic' is one of the all-time great live albums, showcasing the wide-ranging gifts of one of popular music's finest songwriters, and featuring an amazing ensemble of musicians at the peak of their powers. Recorded in 1981's 'Glass Houses' tour, the music features the legendary line-up of Billy on lead vox and piano, Russell Javors and David Brown on guitars, Doug Stegmeyer on bass, Liberty De Vitto on drums, and Richie Cannatta on sax and keys. It was an opportunity for Billy to revisit some of the songs from his first four albums (recorded mainly with session musicians) with his own guys, to try and capture the energy that he felt was lacking on the recorded versions. Boy, was he right! It's hard to pick out highlights from this record, because everything is just so damn good, but special mention must be made for 'Say Goodbye to Hollywood' with its shimmering rhythm guitars and blistering sax soloes, and for 'Everybody Loves You Now' which has a souped-up and vastly superior arrangement to its original appearance on 'Cold Spring Harbor'. The power-house drumming of Liberty De Vitto is always a joy to behold, especially on 'Miami 2017' and 'Captain Jack', and the elegant simplicity of Billy's piano solo on 'You're My Home', along with the warmth and purity of his under-rated vocals are also to be richly commended. I must also say that Doug Stegmeyer is one of my favourite musicians, and his bass work offers lovely melodic counterpoints to Billy's piano work while maintaining an amazing affinity with Liberty's drumming.
All in all, if you love music, you need to own this album. Go buy! Now!
All in all, if you love music, you need to own this album. Go buy! Now!
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
As some great performances often emerge from live recordings in classical music, the same can be said about Billy Joel's live recordings. Most of the songs in this live are performed better than the respective album version. For example, 'She's got a way' is sung with deeper emotional involvement. I love these live version of 'Captain Jack', 'Everybody loves you now' and 'Ballad of Billy the Kid' for the sheer strength of the vocal. Joel's piano playing and the band's performance too have more intensity and excitement. The swelling noise from the audiences never obstructs the music, but rather enhance the sense of exultation.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a live album of songs from the first four albums. The songs featured were not brought to anyone prominince before the success of 'The Stranger' The Funny thing is, the songs sound better then the original recordings, it captures the atmosphere of each song via different environments of recording (which may spoil the entire atmosphere in general but it does benefit each individual song) Miami 2017 gives us the fun rocker from the 'Turnstiles' album, it sounds incredible live. Streetlife Serenader sounds stunning, it's 'echoeie' vocals adds to it's personal and rather romantic performance.
'She's Got A Way' brings us back to the cute piano ballad. Songs like 'Captain Jack' and 'The Ballad And Billy The Kid' really do show Joel's rock roots and diversity of a songwriter (this was the man who wrote Just The Way You Are).
Buy this CD for a few reasons 1) if you are a completist 2)you want to know what the pre-stranger material is like (very good in general) 3)it shows not only a talented singer and songwriter but a very proffesional showman who brings this collection of songs to life.
'She's Got A Way' brings us back to the cute piano ballad. Songs like 'Captain Jack' and 'The Ballad And Billy The Kid' really do show Joel's rock roots and diversity of a songwriter (this was the man who wrote Just The Way You Are).
Buy this CD for a few reasons 1) if you are a completist 2)you want to know what the pre-stranger material is like (very good in general) 3)it shows not only a talented singer and songwriter but a very proffesional showman who brings this collection of songs to life.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
best live album
al the songs on this album are recordings of live concerts and as such you can really hear the quality of the songs.
Published 18 months ago by keith
Outstanding
One of the truly great live albums. The material spans Billy's early career and is the better for it. But it's the emotion and energy in the performances that stands out. Read more
Published on 24 April 2009 by David T. Clancy
Brilliant Album
If you are a real Billy Joel fan, then definately get this album, even if you already have all the tracks on other albums.
Published on 11 Jun 2007 by Mr. P. Clements
Good collection of early songs
Billy Joel had put out seven albums before releasing this his first live one. Yet some fans will probably feel let down that the many well-known songs from his most recent albums... Read more
Published on 3 July 2004 by Docendo Discimus
Inspiring Album
This album shows us Billy Joel at his peak, beautiful melodies and wonderfully varied vocals on this live collaberation of the best from his first four albums. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2004 by Terry
A great compillation of pre-Stranger greats
After the Stranger album took off in America, Bill decided it would be nice to get his favorite numbers from the earlier, and still available, Cold Spring Harbor, Piano Man,... Read more
Published on 20 July 2001 by BaldySlaphead
A brilliant compilation of his songs played live!
This CD is well worth its money. Every track makes you wish you were there at that concert listening to him play that song!! Choice morsels of live performances only!!!
Published on 1 Mar 2001
another great effort by billy
"Songs In The Attic" was an album of tracks that weren't good enough to be included on Billy's first couple of albums and after he became famous he decided to dig some of these up... Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2000
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