The Nylon Curtain (studio album) by Billy Joel
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Billy Joel bestography
The Nylon Curtain is ranked 7th best out of 25 albums by Billy Joel on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Billy Joel is The Stranger which is ranked number 233 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 7,142.
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The Nylon Curtain track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Nylon Curtain rankings
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The Nylon Curtain collection
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The Nylon Curtain ratings

where:
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 142 ratings for this album.
Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
---|---|---|---|---|
85/100 ![]() | 04/02/2025 18:56 | Siromynian | ![]() | 79/100 |
65/100 ![]() | 03/01/2025 14:47 | BoxFL | ![]() | 51/100 |
70/100 ![]() | 11/28/2024 01:24 | ![]() | ![]() | 82/100 |
90/100 ![]() | 04/28/2024 12:55 | saltysurprise | ![]() | 84/100 |
85/100 ![]() | 04/04/2024 03:00 | ![]() | ![]() | 83/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
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This album is rated in the top 6% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.7/100, a mean average of 74.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 75.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.6.
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The Nylon Curtain comments
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Shortlisted for album of the year at the 1983 Grammys. The Winner was Toto IV by Toto

BJ stands so well in line and side by side with the best singer-songwriters of this world, that this album should be ranked higher on any list.
Way underrated piece of work, Goodnight Saigon is a great song about Vietnam. Allentown is a great song about American decline. The B Side is a great tribute to the Beatles. All in all I think this album should be considered Joel's second best and reach the top 500 of any list.
A very middle of the road album for Billy Joel, elevated by three of his best songs.

By far Joel's best album, Nylon Curtain is an inspired and eclectic work that takes influence from the Vietnam war, the Beatles and (Of course) drugs.
The best tracks on here are 'Where's the Orchestra', 'Allentown', 'Scandinavian Skies' and 'Laura'
This is a really good album, almost sounds like a Beatles' tribute/pastiche at times especially on the wonderful Laura, a kind of John Lennon psychedelic ballad, and the drony, Scandinavian skies. The middle eight of surprises sounds just like George Harrison too. The first half of the album is perfect with Joel classics such as the protest song, Allentown, the excellent, pressure and the Vietnam anthem, goodnight Saigon. Second side/half is not as great but room of our own is excellent. There's certainly nothing bad on here, but it does tend to run out of steam before the end. Where's the orchestra, ends the album. It's definitely an interesting album if you're a Beatles fan. A fine Billy Joel album.
Billy Joel has a near nervous breakdown on this great album. Give it a listen it's not to bad,
Pressure, Allentown, and Goodnight Saigon are all you really need off this one.
Not the hit factory Joel's albums usually are. Nevertheless, this is one of the most poignant records he ever did. All of the tracks are strong here, and I don't there are any songs here that gratuitously "fill" out the set. Allentown could've been written today.
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