Brenda and Eddie turn 30

Billy Joel
Album: The Stranger: 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Columbia)
In stores: July 8
Why we care: Has it really been 30 years since we first waved Brenda and Eddie goodbye? Oy, I can totally feel my back going out on me. Somebody pass the Doan's. The Piano Man's '78 masterpiece, produced by my new best friend Phil Ramone (READ), gets the triple-disc treatment, with the remastered album plus a '77 show from Carnegie Hall and a DVD of rare footage — all in a slick collector's case. There's a very good chance I've listened to this album more than any other. Key to my happiness? Maybe, just maybe.
Why we like it: When those ominous piano pounds kick in at the 2:49 mark on Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, signaling an epic shift in storytelling, it's downright impossible not to get in on the dorky group sing.
Reminds us of: "They started to fight when the money got tight / And they just didn't count on the tears..."
Download these: Only the Good Die Young, Vienna -- oh hell, just download the whole damn thing.
Grade: A

Billy Joels "The Stranger"...

Comments

[ian]

Back in '95, my dad bought nosebleed seats for the Billy Joel/Elton John, "Face to Face" concert at the Citrus Bowl. As we were headed up the endless ramps to the top, we were approached by a man claiming to be from EJ's crew. He explained that a video was going to shot that night and the front rows needed to be filled.

So we headed back down and through the myriad of checkpoints to our new seats. Front row, stage right at BJ's piano!

It was an unbelievable night. I still have the program, the "virgin" ticket and drumstick that Liberty beat the crap out of before launching it into the audience.

[80sfan]

I am yet another here who grew up with this album. It's so good to hear that Vienna is so highly regarded. It's always been one of my favorite BJ tunes. I for one think that it is often overlooked but it's one of those rare songs that I completely change your mood when you hear it. I totally give props to the movie 13 Going on 30 for including it.

If I seriously sat down and compiled a list of favorite "albums", The Stranger would undoubtedly be at the top.

[Sherrie]

This is also one of my very favorite albums, and I have to agree with Jane and Jim about "Vienna". I've seen BJ in concert 7 times, and the seventh time I got to hear Vienna...I was totally blissed out. I love the lyrics "But you know that when the truth is told/That you can get what you want or you can just get old". Not exactly a positive affirmation, but those worlds always get me revved up. However...I am stunned that the record is 30 years old! How can that be? (Oddly enough, there is a bar on East Bay Drive in Largo called Brenda and Eddie's but I've never been inside to see if it's a cavern of BJ memorabilia...somehow I doubt it.)

[ian]

This album is almost as old as I am, but has held up much better!

A wonderful album and mastering the lyrics from Scenes was a childhood achievement of epic proportions!

As a side note, I found it interesting that Brenda and Eddie got married in the summer of '75, just as my parents did. They started to fight when the money got tight, just as my parents did. Coincidence or was Mr Joel a child of Nostradamus and sang his quatrains in '78 as my parents divorced?

Hmmm...

... Daly, take away my coffee. I've had too much!

[scooterbucs]

"Big Shot" off of 52nd Street is my first Joel memory. I remember being a wee lad dancing around to my parents' vinyl. I always wanted them to play it. Not only was it a great vibe, but it had CURSE words. The thing that drives me to Joel songs are the characters. You can put a face (or faces) on most of his songs. You become that character or know someone who is that character. He's a great musician and a greater story teller.

[jim w.]

"my favorite song" is a moving target of a concept, but certainly high on the the list is vienna. the last time i saw billy was about 2 years ago in one of the MSG shows, and we flew up for the show just because i was hoping that seeing him in nyc would mean seeing him play something i had never seen in the 20+ shows of his i had seen previously. when he broke into vienna -- i run the risk of getting cloyingly hyperbolic -- i'll just say it was possibly my favorite moment ever at a concert. i had never seen him play that, and it was amazing. the whole show was, but in no small part because of that song.

[jane]

Mr. Daly, the only person who might have listened to this album more than you is me. Bought it on vinyl with my babysitting money. Wore out the grooves. Had the album cover in an acrylic frame on the wall of my dorm room/apartment/room in the sorority house.

"Vienna" is a masterpiece. As is the whole album, actually.

[Karen]

Phil Ramone's >> MAKING RECORDS << book is a GOLDMINE! Trust me when I tell you, after reading it, you will never listen to any of those songs the same way again!

[Marissa]

Would you believe it was a 10 year old girl who introduced me to this album? I was babysitting and she insisted we listen to records. Who was I to argue?
That was many moons ago, but my love for it is still fresh.