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The Stranger [Enhanced]

Billy Joel Audio CD
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
Price: £4.30 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Stranger + 52nd Street + Piano Man
Price For All Three: £12.24

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Product details

  • Audio CD (1 Jun 1998)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Enhanced
  • Label: Sony Music CMG
  • ASIN: B000024BW6
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 18,281 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

1. Everybody Has A Dream
2. The Stranger
3. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
4. The Stranger
5. Just The Way You Are
6. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
7. Vienna
8. Only The Good Die Young
9. She's Always A Woman
10. Get It Right The First Time
11. Everybody Has A Dream

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk

This, Billy Joel's breakthrough album, came years after he first made his mark with the novelty-ish "Piano Man". In the meantime, the New York-based songwriter released two lacklustre and stylistically confused platters that blunted interesting songs with a sound that was neither Elton mellow nor Elton attitude. Produced by Phil Ramone, The Stranger took those who had written Joel off as a one-hit wonder by surprise and it remains a solid introduction to Joel's restless muse at a crucial point in his career. It invited a few comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, with its prominent sax breaks, hard-edged rebel-rockers ("Only The Good Die Young") and slice-of-life dramatics ("Scenes From An Italian Restaurant"), recounting life in a lower middle-class setting; but Joel's chameleonic, formalist approach to pop wasn't to be so easily pigeonholed. --Don Harrison

Product Description

CD

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Stranger established Billy Joel as a star 15 Mar 2000
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
When it came out in 1977, The Stranger became Billy Joel's first very successful reaching no.2 in the album charts. It produced Record of the Year, "Just the Way You Are" and many other great songs. After all 6 songs from this album has gone to his greatest hits. The album is further enhanced by its ongoing theme of The Stranger with it's mysterious tune and epilogue. This is a fantastic album and I recommend it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Pop Perfection 2 Nov 2003
By KIRK
Format:Audio CD
Musically, critically and commercially one of Billy Joel's finest albums 'The Stranger' has set standards of the popular song, it also shows a man very much on top form in the singer/songwriter category. With 'The Stranger' Joel has touched the pulse of pop perfection, and outcame such songs like 'Movin Out (Anthony's Song' - a fun narrative pop song with one of the most catchiest choruses I've ever heard. 'The Stranger' (a song on the album with the same name) - a dark funky rock song with an oriental guitar riff, not to mention the beautiful piano introduction. 'Just The Way You Are' - need I say no more.
'Scenes From An Italian Restaurant' is one of Joels best written songs, jazz, rock and roll and romance all thrown into this pop epic. It is Joels 'Bohemian Rhapsody' if you like. 'Vienna' is tranquil and poignant and 'She's Always A Woman' empathises with any man who's ever been in love, a song of such beauty and significance.
Melody, Harmony and Orchestration all have high standards and just pure enjoyment in this masterpiece.
This is a must have for Billy Joel fans, but even if you don't particularly like his work this is an elagant addition to anyones collection. A true classic from the Piano Man
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, essential album 22 July 2008
By A. Sweeney TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD
Billy Joel is the complete artist. A wonderful vocalist, a brilliant lyricist, an exceptional musician, an absolutely astounding pianist and an incredible performer. He is, quite literally, one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century and his breakthrough 1977 Phil Ramone-produced album, 'The Stranger', is widely regarded as his finest moment in music. Although I believe that, given his talent, there are other strong contenders for that honour, I can certainly understand why this album is rated so highly. Like any truly classic release, you can listen to 'The Stranger' from start to finish and it is like listening to a greatest hits package. In fact, nearly all of the tracks on this album can be found on the better Joel compilations and with good reason - it's a masterpiece.

'Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)' kicks the album off, a ballsy song about leaving the rat race which is full of characters working too damn hard to improve their lives against a vividly-painted New York backdrop ("Sergeant O'Leary is walkin' the beat/At night he becomes a bartender/He works at Mister Cacciatore's down on Sullivan Street/Across from the medical centre"). The title track follows, introducing itself with a gentle piece of pretty piano music accompanied by a whistled melody line. This proves to be a false start as the song itself is an electric guitar-heavy rock song about recognising how you and everyone you are close with can be an emotional stranger, something that I'm sure most people will be able to connect with.

'Just The Way You Are' is the first ballad of the album, a bossa-nova style song with an interesting, almost 'backwards', drum rhythm, during which Joel implores his loved one (it was written as a birthday gift to his then wife, Elizabeth) to never change. Always his harshest critic, Billy has gone on record saying that he dislikes this composition and that it was very nearly left off the album. He's entitled to his opinion, of course, but I think that the popularity of it amongst his fans (not to mention the two Grammy awards) proved him wrong.

The next song, 'Scenes From An Italian Restaurant' is truly remarkable. It tells the story of two people getting together over a couple of bottles of wine, reminiscing about their early years, about Brenda & Eddie, the king and queen of the prom who evidently peaked too early in their lives. It's the human detail in this song ("Do you remember those days hanging at at the village green?/Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans"... "Well they got an apartment with deep pile carpets/And a couple of paintings from Sears") coupled with the genuinely stirring and moving music which makes this one of the best songs Billy ever wrote and recorded.

'Vienna' would have been the first song on what they used to call 'side two' and, to this day, remains one of my favourite songs of all time. It is ballad written as a piece of advice for someone who wants everything all at once ("Dream on but don't imagine that they'll all come true/When will you realise Vienna waits for you?") and is a truly beautiful piece of music. The next song is the rather amusing but controversial rock shuffle 'Only The Good Die Young' which sees Billy attempting to get a Catholic girl, Virginia (very subtle, eh?), into bed with him. This extremely enjoyable song got banned by many radio stations which only aided its popularity and was defended by the author as being "pro-lust" instead of anti-Catholic - a stance that I'm sure that many young men could testify to.

Continuing on, the beautiful 6/8 time Gordon Lightfoot-inspired ballad, 'She's Always A Woman', tells the story of a man who loves a woman for all of her flaws and perceived cruelty. The album then moves upbeat with 'Get It Right The First Time', a catchy near-disco number which betrays the era a little and finishes with the powerful, emotive gospel of 'Everybody Has A Dream' which has echoes of Billy's early albums. At nine tracks and just over 42 minutes of music, 'The Stranger' has no excess, no flab and is up there with amongst the greatest albums ever made. As essential as any album could ever be.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Classic Album
This 1977 album of "piano man" Billy Joel figures in most Top-1000 lists I've seen. Even if you didn't know it, you'll find most tunes are familiar. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Kostas
5.0 out of 5 stars pleased
the order arrived quite quickly and it came packaged well, no problems at all. very pleased i guess on a whole.
Published 8 months ago by laurie
5.0 out of 5 stars The Stranger
I had This on vinyal and it still sounds so good today as it did when it was first r
Published on 11 Oct 2010 by clyde
5.0 out of 5 stars Billy at his best.
Great , Great , Billy J at his very best. A must have for anybody.
Published on 1 July 2010 by Dazza D
5.0 out of 5 stars Billy Joel - The Stranger
Classic album.
Billy Joel's best work condensed into an album of timeless quality music and perfect musicianship. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2009 by T. Harber
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic album with no duds
A chance play of Just the Way you are on the radio instantly reminded me how much I used to love to play this album and 52nd Street as a spotty youth. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2008 by Mrs. Electra S. Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding album that made Billy famous
Billy's career had been building gradually prior to the release of this album, but this album made him a major star in America, spawning four hit singles, two of which (Just the... Read more
Published on 12 April 2005 by Peter Durward Harris
4.0 out of 5 stars Contains some true all-time great songs.
Has Billy Joel ever written a song which is as true, and as fine a blend of by turns wistful and cutting lyrics with understated piano melody as "Always a woman"? Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2000 by Martin Isaac
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