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The Stranger
 
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The Stranger [ENHANCED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Billy Joel
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews) | More about this product
List Price: $7.99
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Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) 3:30$1.29 Buy Track
listen  2. The Stranger 5:09$0.99 Buy Track
listen  3. Just The Way You Are 4:52$0.99 Buy Track
listen  4. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant 7:36$0.99 Buy Track
listen  5. Vienna 3:34$1.29 Buy Track
listen  6. Only The Good Die Young (Single Version) 3:54$0.99 Buy Track
listen  7. She's Always A Woman 3:24$0.99 Buy Track
listen  8. Get It Right The First Time 3:53$0.99 Buy Track
listen  9. Everybody Has A Dream 6:40$0.99 Buy Track

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Biography

Singer-songwriter Billy Joel has had a multi-award winning career, selling over 150 million albums and taking his music all around the world. His musical output has changed over his 40 year career, influenced by classical, Tin Pan Alley, blues, and rock and roll.

Prior to his solo career, Joel was in a number of bands: The Echoes, The Hassles (who released two albums), and then Attila, who had one… Read more in Amazon's Billy Joel Store

› Visit Amazon's Billy Joel Store for 155 albums, photos, discussions, and more.

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The Stranger + 52nd Street + Piano Man
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  • This item: The Stranger ~ Billy Joel

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (October 20, 1998)
  • Original Release Date: September 1977
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Enhanced, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
  • Label: Sony
  • ASIN: B00000DCHC
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,803 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

This, pop superstar Joel's breakout LP, came years after he first hit the charts with the novelty-ish "Piano Man." In the meantime, the New York-based songwriter released two lackluster and stylistically confused platters that blunted interesting songs with a sound that was neither Elton mellow nor Elton attitude. Produced by Phil Ramone, The Stranger took those who had written Joel off as a one-hit wonder by surprise ("Just the Way You Are" was among the biggest hits of 1977) and it remains a solid introduction to Joel's restless muse at a crucial point in his career. It invited a few comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, with its prominent sax breaks, hard-edged rebel-rockers ("Only the Good Die Young"), and slice-of-life dramatics ("Scenes From an Italian Restaurant"), recounting life in a lower middle-class (Eastern Urban) setting; but Joel's chameleonic, formalist approach to pop wasn't to be so easily pigeonholed (Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain, An Innocent Man...). --Don Harrison
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Customer Reviews

110 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (110 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Stranger remains frozen in time as a great album., April 25, 2000
I have always suspected that certain musicians, Bill Joel and Paul Simon come to mind, resent being told by fans that one of their earlier albums remains a great favorite. Both Joel & Simon have graduated, apparently, from musician to artist and I imagine they would prefer that their fans share and appreciate their development and evolution. However, the album listener is not burdened by the pains of artistic growth. Rather, the music that I heard at a certain time in my life remains frozen in time and memory. For me, the Stranger is the best album Joel ever recorded. It has been a long time since I actually sat down and listened to the entire Stranger album. I had forgotten how good it was. Every song works. Even "Just the way you are" which became one of the all-time vomit inducing wedding songs of the '70s sounds good in the context of this album. I still care about Brenda and Eddie. I grew up in Queens at the same time Joel was growing up in Long Island. I knew Brenda and Eddie - or lots of people who could pass for Brenda and Eddie. Only the good die young still has that parochial school resonance and lust-driven undertones that it had almost 30 years ago. So sit down - have a bottle of red, have a bottle of white - it all depends on your appetite - and enjoy this great cd.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Piano Man's Best, July 26, 2000
Billy Joel had tasted some success before the release of The Stranger, with the hit single "Piano Man", but this is the album that made him a superstar. The album is a virtual greatest hits record with most of the 9 songs being instantly recognizable. The songs move from sentimental ballads like "Just The Way You Are" (which won the 1978 Record of the Year Grammy) and "She's Always A Woman" to rockers like "Only The Good Die Young" and "Anthony's Song". "The Stranger" is a strange combination of what seems like two different songs. It opens and closes with a jazzy piano riff while the middle of the song is a hard rocker. "Vienna" is one of the lesser known songs on the album, but is a personal favorite of mine with it's sing-a-long chorus and what sounds like an old squeeze box in the break. The centerpiece of the album is "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" which tells the story of the rise and fall of Brenda & Eddie. Some of the songs may be a bit overplayed, but the reason is that they're great and timeless songs.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Versatile and Poignant, September 22, 2000
By W. Langan "take403" (the end of the world to your town!) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I had no memory of Billy Joel until the winter of 1977-78 (sure, I had heard songs like "Piano Man" and "NY State of Mind", but didn't know who sang or wrote them). "Just the Way You Are", one of the most intelligent love songs ever (supposedly written for his 1st wife- don't request it live!) changed that. 3 months later, "Moving Out" (which opens this album) hit the airwaves, a catchy but cynical song about characters like Anthony and Sgt. O'Leary who just can't seem to "get a life". With that, my sister came home with the record,and it became a favorite amongst all my siblings. To this day, it still sounds as versatile and poignant.

The title track starts out with a slow piano shuffle with a melancholy whistle, then breaks out in a funky guitar lick- this song is about all of us: "We all have a face... some are satin, some are steel... they're the faces of the stranger but we love to try them all!". "Vienna" is a winsome ballad (with its European sounding accordian). "Only the Good Die Young" is a catchy shuffle, which makes of fun of religious hypocricy. "She's Always a Woman" is one of the most cynical love songs ever written with a lovely waltz beat. "Get it Right the 1st Time" with its Latino flavor and positive lyrics changes the mood to being hopeful. The "final" track is "Everybody Has a Dream", supposedly one of the older songs (at least written, not performed, since the copyright goes back to 1971, 6 years before the album's release). And then, there's the hidden track, a reprise of "The Stranger".

I thought I'd save my comments about the best song for last: "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant". The slow introduction and conclusion capture the restaurant mood perfectly (you'd have to have eaten in an Italian restaurant in New York to know what I'm talking about). Then after the saxophone riff, the mood picks up as Billy Joel reminisces about the old days and shares in the small talk about Brenda and Eddie, 2 high school lovebirds, with the singalong chorus: "Whoa- oh!".

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Billy Joel's Finest
Though, "Piano Man", may be Joel's signature song, "The Stranger" is his signature album. After all, though it may not contain, "Piano Man", it contains a wealth of other... Read more
Published 27 days ago by BeatlesFan3287

5.0 out of 5 stars The Stranger spoke to me
Intelligent lyrics that helped me through my teenage years. There is no comparison to his Billy Joel's musicianship. Magical! It's great to revisit this album time and time again.
Published 1 month ago by Patty Crystal

5.0 out of 5 stars BLAST FROM THE PAST!!!
I love everything Billy Joel sings but the songs on this CD have always been my all-time favorites. Mr. Joel never ceases to amaze us with all his talent. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Julie A. Ball

4.0 out of 5 stars billy joel stranger
I loved this cd. It is pretty short, but the songs it has on it are great. I bought it beacause there were a couple of songs on it that I knew I loved, and I ended up hearing more... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lisa Workman

4.0 out of 5 stars oldies but goodies
this is a classic album that everyone knows. I already listen to the tape all the time and am just trying to upgrade to keep up with the times
Published 10 months ago by Deanna Chirivas

5.0 out of 5 stars The album that introduced Billy Joel
The is the album (or I should say CD) that defined Billy Joel as a pop music force. It is truly some of his best work. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Kelly Barber

1.0 out of 5 stars Used goods sold as new
I bought this product and the last track was scratched. Strange for a new CD right. I am still awaiting a refund.
Published 14 months ago by HAL 3000

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Star Music + Great Sound Besides!
I won't write a lengthy, positive review. On that score, I'll just say that this is one of those rare albums/tapes/CDs where ALL the songs got heavy radio play (U2's "Joshua Tree"... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jon Strand

5.0 out of 5 stars The Album that turned the Piano Man's keys of ivory into rightfully Platinum and a long legendary career 30 years on
New York native Billy Joel released his fifth album The Stranger in November of 1977.
Prior to The Stranger, Billy was almost seen as a pop one-hit wonder thanks to the... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Terrence J. Reardon

4.0 out of 5 stars No Stranger? Get It
Billy Joel is kind of my guilty pleasure - He's one of the most revered musicians or at least very popular of today yet I never quite got him. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Bradley Jacobson

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