Leading up to The Stranger Billy Joel’s career was on the rocks. After the massive success of 1973’s Piano Man (whose title track is Joel’s most famous song, and for good reason considering it’s a brilliant piece of storytelling), he was on the verge of being dropped by his record label Columbia Records due to his subsequent releases performing poorly commercially.
At a crossroads, Joel’s vision for The Stranger was clear– he wanted avoid using session players like he had on previous records, instead opting to bring his touring band from 1976’s Turnstiles into the studio due to their rough around the edges and high-energy approach that he felt was lacking in his previous records. Numerous producers were considered for the album, including George Martin of The Beatles fame, but after every producer insisted on using session players instead of his touring band, Joel settled on using Jay Ramone whose vision matched his.
It was a brilliant choice in retrospect. The Stranger is one of my favorite piano-driven albums of all-time– it’s simply fun as hell and features incredible songwriting prowess. The characters on this album feel so tangible in Joel’s capable hands. From the Long Island grocery-store employee who dreams of making it big (“Anthony’s Song”), the medley of two star-crossed lovers Brenda and Eddie struggling through a failed marriage (“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”), the story of a young boy trying to convince an abstinent Catholic woman to sleep with him (“Only The Good Die Young”), and some of the finest love songs ever written (“Just The Way You Are”, “She’s Always a Woman”), Joel has an uncanny ability to make you feel as if you’re watching a short cinematic film throughout the course of each song.
The Stranger has always reminded me of passing the day sitting on a park bench in Central Park, people-watching as the throng of crowds walk by and imagining what the lives of those people look like when they get home. It’s an album filled with dreams, successes, and failures. It’s an album with big ideas and tiny vignettes of day-to-day life.
It’s an album that celebrates the human condition. And for that reason alone it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Standout Songs: “Just the Way You Are”, “Only The Good Die Young”, “Moving Out (Anthony’s Song)”, “She’s Always a Woman”
