Glass Houses

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Glass Houses
Studio album by Billy Joel

Publication
(s)

February 1980

Label (s) Columbia Records

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

skirt

Title (number)

8th

running time

35:06

production

Phil Ramone

chronology
52 nd Street
(1978) 		Glass Houses Songs in the Attic
(1981)

Glass Houses is the seventh studio album by the American musician Billy Joel . It was released in the spring of 1980 and is the first record of which, with It's still Rock and Roll to Me, a title by the artist reached first place on the Billboard charts .

background

In "Glass Houses", in contrast to the previous albums, you can hear clearly stronger hard rock elements, so the record is opened by the sound of shattering glasses, to which the first guitar riffs of "You may be right", a rather classic rock ' n 'roll number, connect. When it was released, this meant that many old fans of Joel reacted rather alienated to the album, while the change in direction could also bring the artist many new fans. According to the company, the record was intended as a response to the emerging punk culture .

The album cover shows Joel throwing a stone into the front window of his own house, a modern glass house, in Oyster Bay . The musician had already moved into this house in 1977 after unable to find an apartment in the traditional apartment building The Dakota in New York City . After " The Stranger " and " 52 nd Street " is "Glass Houses" also the third collaboration between Billy Joel and his longtime producer Phil Ramone .

publication

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Glass Houses
  DE 24 04/14/1980 (11 weeks)
  AT 9 04/15/1980 (24 weeks)
  UK 9 03/22/1980 (24 weeks)
  US 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 06/14/1980 (73 weeks)
Singles
You may be right
  US 7th 03/15/1980 (15 weeks)
All for Leyna
  UK 40 04/12/1980 (4 weeks)
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
  US 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link May 24, 1980 (21 weeks)
  UK 14th 08/09/1980 (11 weeks)
Don't ask me why
  US 19th 08/02/1980 (15 weeks)
Sometimes a fantasy
  US 36 10/11/1980 (9 weeks)

After its release, the album took six weeks the first place the US album charts and was the album with the fourth highest sales figures for the entire year behind The Wall by Pink Floyd , The Long Run by Eagles and Off the Wall by Michael Jackson .

At the 1981 Grammy Awards , Billy Joel also won the Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance with “Glass Houses”.

Track list

  1. You May Be Right - 4:15
  2. Sometimes a Fantasy - 3:40
  3. Don't Ask Me Why - 2:59
  4. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me - 2:57
  5. All for Leyna - 4:15
  6. I Don't Want to Be Alone - 3:57
  7. Sleeping With the Television On - 3:02
  8. C'Était Toi (You Were the One) - 3:25
  9. Close to the Borderline - 3:47
  10. Through the Long Night - 2:43

Both the music and the lyrics of all tracks are from Billy Joel.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts UK Charts US
  2. ↑ billboard.com, Year End Charts 1980 - Year-end Albums - The Billboard 200 ( Memento from October 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive )