Red Mosquito

The Stranger: Yeah, this lives up to its reputation. Packed with great songs. “Movin’ Out”, “The Stranger”, “Vienna”, “Only the Good Die Young” - great stuff. Really good album.

52nd Street: Uneventful like Turnstiles; not a particularly good follow-up to TS. “Big Shot” is awesome though. Oh and I like “Honesty” a lot.

Glass Houses: This is the best of his albums I’ve listened to so far. Not a bad song in sight. I love “All for Leyna”.

The Nylon Curtain: This album left no impression on me.

An Innocent Man: Oof, this was rough for me. I hate, hate, hate how he leaned into this embarrassing doo-wop/oldies sound so heavily, especially when paired with the sterile production (voice is way too up front, everything else is way too quiet, especially the horns). “Tell Her About It” and “Uptown Girl” are great, though significantly hampered by the terrible mixing. I never want to hear any of the other songs again.

The Bridge: Not bad. Certainly much better than AIM. I like how ‘80s it sounds, and I love “Code of Silence”. “Running on Ice” is a really shameless Ghost in the Machine/Synchronicity knock-off though.

Storm Front: This one is terrific; his best since Glass Houses for sure. It’s huge, slick, bombastic ‘80s maximalism. Which makes the stark, spare “And So It Goes” all the more disarming (maybe my favorite Joel song?). I could probably do without “When in Rome”, though.

I absolutely love "And So It Goes" -- what a heartbreakingly sad song.

I don't really like Joel's '70's singer-songwriter period but his last few albums (specifically "Storm Front" and "River of Dreams") I have a soft spot for. "We Didn't Start the Fire" is the one of the first songs from my very early childhood that I really have a lot of concrete, vivid memories of.

River of Dreams: Whoa! I LOVE this one! Far and away my favorite of his albums. He sounds pissed - almost all the songs have an acerbic edge. And every song is great. “No Man’s Land”, “Lullaby” - fantastic. “All About Soul” hits me pretty hard emotionally.

He sure went out with a bang.

Early ranking:

River of Dreams
Glass Houses
The Stranger
Streetlife Serenade
Storm Front
52nd Street
The Bridge
Turnstiles
The Nylon Curtain
Piano Man
An Innocent Man
Cold Spring Harbor

I can already see putting Storm Front above The Stranger and SS. Hmm.

This was a very enjoyable listening journey. I definitely like William Joel.

LoathedVermin72 wrote:River of Dreams: Whoa! I LOVE this one! Far and away my favorite of his albums. He sounds pissed - almost all the songs have an acerbic edge. And every song is great. “No Man’s Land”, “Lullaby” - fantastic. “All About Soul” hits me pretty hard emotionally.

He sure went out with a bang.

Early ranking:

River of Dreams
Glass Houses
The Stranger
Streetlife Serenade
Storm Front
52nd Street
The Bridge
Turnstiles
The Nylon Curtain
Piano Man
An Innocent Man
Cold Spring Harbor

We have the same Top 3! I grew up with Joel. My parents had all his records.

LoathedVermin72 wrote: “And So It Goes” all the more disarming (maybe my favorite Joel song?).

It is so good!

Also, love Sleeping with the Television On.

It's really hitting me how great "The Downeaster "Alexa"" is today

I may make him my next deep dive after I finish’s Primus.

Not to be mean on a thread for him, and I have liked the albums I heard in the studio albums thread, but I still think you can get most of what you need from Billy Joel on a greatest hits album.

Ehh, I dunno. A Billy Joel greatest hits compilation is going to be undeniable, but albums like Streetlife Serenade, Glass Houses, Storm Front, and River of Dreams have plenty of great deep cuts to offer.

He also needs to update his Boomer anthem in the Trump era: “we didn’t start the fire, but we ensure whole place burned to the effin’ ground”

doesn't really work with the melody

There are no Billy Joel albums with at least 1 album track that's better than 1 of its singles.