Billy Joel - The Stranger (Hybrid SACD 5.1, Blu-spec CD2, Japanese Edition)
Billy Joel – vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesizer [click here to see more vinyl/SACD featuring Billy Joel]
Richie Cannata – tenor & soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute, organ
Doug Stegmeyer – bass
Liberty DeVitto – drums
Steve Khan – acoustic & electric guitar
Hiram Bullock – electric guitar
Hugh McCracken, Steve Burgh – acoustic guitar
Phil Woods – alto saxophone (Just The Way You Are)
Dominic Cortese – accordion
Ralph MacDonald – percussion
Richard Tee – organ (Everybody Has A Dream)
Gwen Guthrie, Lani Groves, Patti Austin, Phoebe Snow – backing vocals (Everybody Has A Dream)
Orchestrated by Patrick Williams
Written by Billy Joel
1 Hybrid SACD (stereo + 5.1 multichannel) + 1 Blu-spec CD2, 7-inch gatefold cardboard sleeve (mini LP) with OBI
Limited edition – Japanese import
40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
SACD layer : stereo and 5.1 surround mixes (DSD) ; CD layer : 2011 remaster by Ted Jensen + 5 bonus live tracks (Nassau Coliseum, December 11, 1977 – CD layer only)
Disc 2 (Blu-spec CD2) : Live at Carnegie Hall, June 3, 1977
Includes 24-page and 60-page booklets, replicas of the 1978 Japan tour programme, ticket and flyer, 2 posters, 3 replica single jackets and replica OBIs
Original analog Master tape : YES
Multichannel
Stereo
Live & Studio
Label : Sony Japan
Original Label : Columbia
Engineered by Jim Boyer, Phil Ramone
Produced by Phil Ramone
5.1 surround mix by Frank Filipetti
Mastered by Ted Jensen
Photography by Jim Houghton
Originally released in September 1977
Reissued in December 2018
Tracks:
Disc 1 – Hybrid SACD :
- Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
- The Stranger
- Just The Way You Are
- Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
- Vienna
- Only The Good Die Young
- She's Always A Woman
- Get It Right The First Time
- Everybody Has A Dream
- Just The Way You Are (Live at Nassau Coliseum, 1977) [CD layer only]
- Vienna (Live at Nassau Coliseum, 1977) [CD layer only]
- The Ballad Of Billy The Kid (Live at Nassau Coliseum, 1977) [CD layer only]
- Get It Right The First Time (Live at Nassau Coliseum, 1977) [CD layer only]
- Summer, Highland Falls (Live at Nassau Coliseum, 1977) [CD layer only]
Disc 2 – Blu-spec CD2 : Live at Carnegie Hall, June 3, 1977 :
- Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)
- Prelude/Angry Young Man
- New York State Of Mind
- Just The Way You Are
- She's Got A Way
- The Entertainer
- Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
- (Band Introductions)
- Captain Jack
- I've Loved These Days
- Say Goodbye To Hollywood
- Souvenir
Awards :
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Ranked 169/500
Number 246 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums
Reviews :
“Billy Joel teamed with Phil Ramone, a famed engineer who had just scored his first producing hits with Art Garfunkel's Breakaway and Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years for The Stranger, his follow-up to Turnstiles. Joel still favored big, sweeping melodies, but Ramone convinced him to streamline his arrangements and clean up the production. The results aren't necessarily revelatory, since he covered so much ground on Turnstiles, but the commercialism of The Stranger is a bit of a surprise. None of his ballads have been as sweet or slick as "Just the Way You Are"; he never had created a rocker as bouncy or infectious as "Only the Good Die Young"; and the glossy production of "She's Always a Woman" disguises its latent misogynist streak. Joel balanced such radio-ready material with a series of New York vignettes, seemingly inspired by Springsteen's working-class fables and clearly intended to be the artistic centerpieces of the album. They do provide The Stranger with the feel of a concept album, yet there is no true thematic connection between the pieces, and his lyrics are often vague or mean-spirited. His lyrical shortcomings are overshadowed by his musical strengths. Even if his melodies sound more Broadway than Beatles -- the epic suite "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" feels like a show-stopping closer -- there's no denying that the melodies of each song on The Stranger are memorable, so much so that they strengthen the weaker portions of the album. Joel rarely wrote a set of songs better than those on The Stranger, nor did he often deliver an album as consistently listenable.” AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Ratings :
AllMusic : 4.5 / 5 ; Discogs : 4.73 / 5