352 - Billy Joel - 52nd Street

[csberry]

When I was in middle school, I got Billy Joel's greatest hits volumes 1 & 2 on cassette. I really enjoyed that collection. I also got An Innocent Man when it came out. I thought the album was good, but I never really felt motivated to get any of his other albums. During high school and college, when I would talk to people who considered themselves Billy Joel fans, I kept hearing the same commentary - "Billy has great singles, but the other album tracks aren't any good." This cemented my opinion that I was in good shape just having the greatest hits. Since college, there has been a subtle change to what Billy Joel fans tell me. They tend to agree with the previous statement, but then add - "...that is true except for (insert favorite album here, usually The Stranger or Glass Houses)."

My listening to 52nd Street these past 4 days has been my first listen to any studio album other than An Innocent Man 25ish years ago. I can't say that this album has changed my feelings on Billy's albums. We start off strong with three singles - "Big Shot," "Honesty," and "My Life." After that, on my first listen, the songs seemed to be a boring string of strained, and yet boring, tracks.

But WHY did I love the first three tracks so much and found everything else to be lackluster? All of my subsequent listens were to focus on that question. "Zanzibar" actually sounds like it could have been on Steely Dan's The Royal Scam with its jazzy instrumentation. Unfortunately for Billy, that is one of my least favorite albums by SD and I found his drama-level cranked up to 11. At times, I felt the song had a closer connection to Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" than any of its potential twins on The Royal Scam. My attempts of deciphering why these album tracks weren't working for me was a frustrating task. The best conclusions I've come up with is the lack of a good hook, a tendency to have "over the top" moments that seemed fine on Broadway but overbearing while sitting around the house/office, and a general disinterest in the stories being told.

Songs I knew I liked: "Big Shot," "Honesty," and "My Life"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Rosalinda's Eyes" is the only non-single track that I found myself enjoying.

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Zanzibar," "Stiletto," and "Until the Night"