715 Billy Joel - 52nd Street (1978)

 715 Billy Joel - 52nd Street (1978)

Studio Album - Singer-Songwriter


About the Act:

So Billy Joel, is like, this guy who plays the piano, writes songs and sings them. He's one of the best selling singer/songwriters of all time. He was in a couple of bands before going solo in 1970, since which he has released 13 albums, some of which sold well, and some of which sold phenomenally well.

There's a lot of stuff that could be said about his private life, but I tend to avoid doing that. I think the music should speak for itself. In this case the music, resoundingly, says "per-Ching!"

About the Album:

This was Billy's 6th album, his first to get to No 1 in the USA, and one of the first to be released on CD.

My History with this Album:

I have had a copy for a long time. I have played it sometimes, but have tended to play his greatest hits more. As a result, I know the first three songs well, which were hit singles.

Review:

So, cards on the table here, I like Billy Joel. I have liked his songs for a long time. I couldn't identify when I first noticed him, maybe it was "Still Rock n Roll to me", maybe not. I would hold him up there as one of the great singer-songwriters to come out of the 70s. He managed to continue high level success into the 80s which was a solid achievement. I have been known, in my time, to write a song or two, and Billy Joel is one of a short list of people that make me wish I was a better songwriter.

He's a wordsmith, everything is carefully put together. He's also a storyteller, there are songs about people, situations, places, attitudes from someone else's point of view. He strikes me as the kind of person who would be a novelist if he wasn't so busy being a successful singer. He's not angry, or shocking, but neither is he fluffy and soppy. Some of these songs pull no punches, I guess Big Shot and My Life in particular, but when he does go for pathos, he goes all out, and Honesty is not only beautiful, but evocative, and in some ways quite unusual because it's not a love song, it's a friendship song.

Musically it's 70s singer-songwriter stuff, lots of mixed-in influences. He's a pianist so there is a piano emphasis here, which makes him quite comparable with Elton John. I guess I would classify it as light rock, but there are times when it dips into the medium rock, and there are jazz influences in here as well, bit not overwhelmingly so. It's all very middle-of-the-road really, but that doesn't mean it isn't good, just commercially good. It's not my favourite of his albums, but it still stands above so many other albums. I enjoyed it. A lot.

8.3/10



Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1HmCO8VK98AU6EXPOjGYyI

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLraUXdMOSKKGRtYEufJHeKbDwh0z29rgE

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/52nd_Street_(album)



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