809. Billy Joel--52nd Street (1978; #1 (3 weeks)) (5)

809. Billy Joel--52nd Street (1978; #1 (3 weeks)) (5)

1. Big Shot (8)
2. Honesty (8)
3. My Life (9)
4. Zanzibar (?) (4)
5. Stiletto (7)
6. Rosalinda's Eyes (6)
7. Half a Mile Away (4)
8. Until the Night (3+)
9. 52nd Street (4)

REVIEW: Definitely the best opening trio of songs yet. But from there it falls off somewhat. "Stiletto" and "Rosalinda's Eyes" conjure up good memories for me, particularly because I'd go ice skating at a rink where this album was played a lot. This one is actually hurt by my familiarity with it, with only Zanzibar not standing out in my memory. I give it a 5, which only two albums (Hair and the Divine Miss M) have exceeded and one (Songs From the Big Chair) has tied.


ED'S TAKE:

809. Billy Joel--52nd Street (1978; #1)

1. Big Shot (6)
2. Honesty (6)
3. My Life (5) Sounds like the weaker side of Paul M. and/or Steely Dan
4. Zanzibar (6)
5. Stiletto (6) With the piano opening I thought it'd be better
6. Rosalinda's Eyes (6)
7. Half a Mile Away (7) Without the horns I'd have upped it to 8
8. Until the Night (6)
9. 52nd Street (8)

OVERALL RATING: 6

DISCUSSION: This is, by far, my weakest score to date. Why? I'm not exactly sure except to say that Joel wants to be thought of as an edgy rocker but remains a piano man. Sometimes, he reminds me of early Elton John and other times he reminds me of the worst part of Rupert Holmes....always trying to be clever and even when he was, you could see him mugging at his self satisfaction. Joel sounds like an egomaniac to me, if that's possible, even more so than a lot of the seeming self centered rappers or early blues men. Joel wants to be the "street punk" with his piano/voice as his fists and his "art" as the peacekeeper. It obviously has worked well for him during his career. But when I hear a song like "Pressure", it sounds like hoakum to me. A list. He probably is much better singing piano bar type songs, although some of them are not very listenable to me, even as MOR pop songs. (The worst of Paul M.)

There are artists whose career, for me, can be positively summed up in my collection by a few songs. (Even though I usually have their albums because I eventually bought them on the cheap). With Heart (one of those bands), I'd take "Magic Man" and a few others that escape me. That would be enough although I think Ann's voice, in her prime, was dynamite. With Joel, give me "Allentown" and "Goodnight Saigon" and keep the rest. And, PLEASE keep the following away from me......"It's Just the Way You Are", "My Kinda Life", "It's Still Rock n Roll To Me", "We Didn't Start the Fire", "Tell Her About It" and "Uptown Girl". Sorry Billy. You don't need me and I don't need you.