Customer Reviews

Songs in the Attic

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this album. It's elite. One of the best live albums I've ever heard and I've heard many. It is easily up there in energy and raw intensity as Springsteen's Live 75 - 85. This CD was Billy using his personally selected band (after finally gaining commercial success and recognition) to replace the original recordings that he did with session musicians. Essentially it is righting a wrong. This is a fantastic.

Great live album! Editing is great, so you don't even know the songs are not from the same concert or venue. "Captain Jack" shows Joel's gritty rock side.

One of the earliest ablums released by Billy Joel, well remastered for consitent sound quality. This should be on a must own category for all Billy Joel Fans.
I enjoyed this album fresh as it was released and cut years ago

I bought this Album yes L.P. when i was a teen, I love this Album easily my Favorite Billy Joel Record Need to get it on CD now

This is one of those albums that every Billy Joel fan must have as a right of passage!!! This is Billy Joel at the top of his game; his very best... and live!! "I've Loved these Days" is my favorite song ever, ... yes ever!

It took me 28 years to buy this album! I remember when it came out, I had never heard much of Billy Joel pre-Stranger; I just didn't think the songs were in the same league as his last 3 albums which by then I had acquired, and the singles "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" and "She's Got A Way", though pretty, just fizzled out on the charts. That being said, I've recently been listening more to his first four albums, where the songwriting was maybe not so evenly inspired as his later albums, but already present were his vocal personality and his marvelous piano playing, which are certainly highlighted here. I have all the albums these songs come from, and I don't really think the live versions add much to anything (except maybe Captain Jack where there are more dynamics than the studio version). Like a live album by Elton John or Paul McCartney, this doesn't so much highlight his very competent band merely as put it to good use. I would have liked to hear "Angry Young Man", "Worse Comes To Worse", "Root Beer Rag", and a half-dozen other songs, but it's only a single album, and maybe they went for the more generic sounding songs because they sounded smoother (given the fact that it's live). The song I most wanted to hear, "Los Angelinos", though with a potential to be rocked up a bit, doesn't sound quite as snappy as the album version (and the vocal seems less subtle and sly - but there is admittedly a bit more energy and the drumming is better). Overall, not a bad set of songs to listen to, but if you're looking to listen to early Billy Joel, I would get the album "Turnstiles" first, then "Cold Spring Harbor".

Was recently thinking after ordering the Legacy Edition of Piano Man, wouldn't it be nice to get a More Songs in the Attic? Live versions of Billy's less popular tunes like Vienna, James, All for Lenya, Until the Night, a few more tunes from Cold Spring Harbor, maybe a few from The Bridge and Glass Houses. Even some River of Dreams would be great. Just a thought.

As a life-long fan of Billy Joel,initially drawn to his McCartney looks and piano chops, after a couple studio albums I longed for a live album offering and "Songs In the Attic" seemed hopeful. However, not finding sufficient 'hits' within then I was disappointed by the other unknown live ones. 30 years pass, and I must acquire CD versiions of those early albums and I re-listen those initially disappointing songs. What a difference a few decades make! This CD is both electrifyingly and delightfully enjoyed. This is Joel with all his vocal and piano chops. Also, in my estimate, the producer of this live offering was very shrewd. Because you will find this enjoyable not only for its great production values and variety of musical influences, making it a superb crab jumbo to savor. Listening carefully you will hear Joel's McCartney falsetto, Doo Wop and latin/afro rhythms with vocalizing a la Elton John or Ronni Spector ("Say Goodbye to Hollyood"), to Davey Johnstone guitar wails welding this tight unit backing Joel so mightily. This time around the standout songs are the lesser-known and unreleased ones, punching up the enjoyment of "Captain Jack" and "The Ballad of Billy Kid" enormously. And to hear "She's Got A Way" at the right tempo live, stripped down to lone piano with its full lyrical force is just too good to believe for Joel to be so early in his career. Now, I would contend that this is the album that reveals all that was to come in Billy Joel's 40+ year career. Yes, one delightfully enjoyable 'live' preview. One of the finest live captures in rock history because a producer had that vision. He caught the magic dust here, my friend.

This by far is one of the most energetic and entertaining Billy Joel CD's ever released. A great live version of his earlier work with his original band (no Piano Man here!) that really rocks the house.
Highly recommended.

Billy Joel's sensational Live Album "Songs In the Attic" reached NO.8 in 1981 on the BILLBOARD-TOP 10 ALBUM CHARTS! The songs collected here are from Billy's early Albums which never reached the BILLBOARD-TOP 10. Noone really knew the 'Piano Man' that well in the early to mid seventies. But the early songs still made an impact and "Songs In the Attic" brings them back to life! Here is the rundown on the songs and which albums and years they are from...
1.) "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)"= "Turnstiles, 1976."
2.) "Summer, Highland Falls"= "Turnstiles, 1976."
3.) "Streetlife Serenader"= "Streetlife Serenade, 1974."
4.) "Los Angelenos"= "Streetlife Serenade, 1974."
5.) "She's Got A Way"= "Cold Spring Harbor, 1971." {This remake hit No.23 on BILLBOARD-TOP 40.}
6.) "Everybody Loves You Now"= "Cold Spring Harbor, 1971."
7.) "Say Goodbye To Hollywood"= "Turnstiles, 1976." {This remake hit No.17 on BILLBOARD-TOP 40.}
8.) "Captain Jack"= "Piano Man, 1973."
9.) "You're My Home"= "Piano Man, 1973."
10.) "The Ballad of Billy the Kid"= "Piano Man, 1973."
11.) "I've Loved These Days"= "Turnstiles, 1976."-------
If you want the original songs and can't find the old Albums at stores. NOT TO WORRY, "AMAZON.COM" has these "Lost Treasures" in their Archives at great costs!Enjoy