The Stranger

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The Stranger
Studio album by Billy Joel

Publication
(s)

September 1977

Label (s) Columbia Records

Format (s)

LP, MC, CD, SACD

Genre (s)

skirt

Title (number)

9

running time

42:13

occupation

production

Phil Ramone

chronology
Turnstiles
(1976) 		The Stranger 52 nd Street
(1978)

The Stranger is the fifth studio album by the American musician Billy Joel . It was released in September 1977 and was also the artist's first record to occupy a top 3 position in the American album charts with number two . To date, The Stranger is Billy Joel's best-selling studio album.

history

Songs

The Stranger's original record contains nine songs, many of which are still on the program at Joel concerts today. Movin 'Out , She's Always a Woman , Just the Way You Are , Everybody Has A Dream and Only The Good Die Young were all rewritten by the artist, while Vienna , The Stranger and Get It Right The First Time were made from fragments that Joel already had recorded for previous projects. The epic piece Scenes From an Italian Restaurant is composed of different styles, with the third part being formed by the Ballad of Brenda and Eddie , written earlier . For “The Stranger”, Joel was also inspired by his stepson's experiments with the Echoplex . The distinctive whistling in the chorus of the song arose according to his own account on the answer of producer Phil Ramone to Joel's statement that he still needs an instrument for the musical implementation of the melody. Ramone replied “No, you don't. That's the stranger, the whistling. ”(“ No, you don't need to. That's the stranger, the whistling ”).

publication

The Stranger was released on Columbia Records in September 1977 and made it to second place on the US album charts .

According to Joels, a large part of the album's success goes to producer Phil Ramone, whose innovative methods perfectly rounded off the songs. Just the Way You Are , which was named "Song of the Year" at the 1979 Grammy Awards , the acoustic ballad She's Always A Woman , Only the Good Die Young and Movin 'Out (Anthony's Song) , which later became the title , were singles for a Broadway musical with Billy Joel pieces, decoupled. The album also overtook the plate Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel as the best-selling album at Columbia at that time. In the list of the 500 best albums of all time published by the music magazine Rolling Stone in 2003 , The Stranger ranked 67th.

30 th Anniversary Edition

In July 2008, for the 30th anniversary of the album, a "30 th Anniversary Edition" was released, which was released in three different formats:

  • a 2 CD edition with the original album and a live concert recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1977 ,
  • a 2CD- / DVD -Edition that the original album, the Carnegie concert and a DVD with promo videos, a performance at the Old Gray Whistle Test of BBC One contains and a 30-minute documentary,
  • as well as a vinyl version of the original album.

Playlists

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
The Stranger
  US 2 02/18/1978 (137 weeks)
  UK 24 03/25/1978 (40 weeks)
Singles
Just the Way You Are
  US 3 02/18/1978 (27 weeks)
  UK 19th 02/11/1978 (9 weeks)
Movin 'Out (Anthony's Song)
  US 17th May 27, 1978 (14 weeks)
  UK 35 06/24/1978 (6 weeks)
Only the Good Die Young
  US 24 07/08/1978 (13 weeks)
She's always a woman
  US 17th 10/14/1978 (15 weeks)

Both the music and the lyrics of all tracks were written by Billy Joel.

The Stranger (1977)

  1. Movin 'Out (Anthony's Song) - 3:30
  2. The Stranger - 5:10
  3. Just the Way You Are - 4:52
  4. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - 7:37
  5. Vienna - 3:34
  6. Only the Good Die Young - 3:55
  7. She's Always a Woman - 3:21
  8. Get It Right the First Time - 3:57
  9. Everybody Has a Dream - 6:38

30 th Anniversary Edition

Live at Carnegie Hall

  1. Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway) - 5:11
  2. Prelude / Angry Young Man - 6:05
  3. New York State of Mind - 8:20
  4. Just the Way You Are - 4:56
  5. She's Got a Way - 3:32
  6. The Entertainer - 6:09
  7. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - 7:35
  8. Band Introductions - 2:02
  9. Captain Jack - 6:51
  10. I've Loved These Days - 4:29
  11. Say Goodbye to Hollywood - 6:45
  12. Souvenir - 2:09

30 th Anniversary Edition DVD

  • Live promotional videos
  1. The Stranger
  2. Just the Way You Are
  • The Old Gray Whistle Test on BBC 1
  1. Intro
  2. Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)
  3. Movin 'Out (Anthony's Song)
  4. New York State of Mind
  5. The entertainer
  6. She's Always a Woman to Me
  7. Root Beer Rag
  8. Just the Way You Are
  9. Only the Good Die Young
  10. souvenir
  11. Ain't no crime
  • Documentation "Making of The Stranger"

Best Buy Exclusive Bonus CD (Live At Nassau Coliseum)

(included in the 2CD- and in the 2CD / 1DVD 30 th Anniversary Edition)

  1. Just the Way You Are
  2. Vienna
  3. The Ballad of Billy the Kid
  4. Get It Right the First Time
  5. Summer, Highland Falls

Target Exclusive Bonus DVD

(included in the 2CD edition)

  1. Movin 'Out (Anthony's Song) (Live on Long Island)
  2. The Stranger (Live on Long Island)
  3. Only the Good Die Young (Live in Leningrad)
  4. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (Live at Yankee Stadium )
  5. Piano Man (Live on "The River of Dreams Tour")

Online Store Bonus Tracks

  1. Prelude / Angry Young Man (Liveversion) (iTunes Album Only Exclusive Track) - 5:03
  2. She's Got a Way (Liveversion) (AmazonMP3 Exclusive Track) - 3:42

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ( June 19, 2008 memento on the Internet Archive ) rollingstone.com; see also: Joe Levy (Ed.): Rolling Stone. The 500 best albums of all time . (Original edition: Rolling Stone. The 500 Greatest Albums of all Time . Wenner Media 2005). Translation: Karin Hofmann. White Star Verlag, Wiesbaden 2011, p. 81
  2. ↑ Charts UK Charts US