52nd Street
by Billy Joel

It had been a while since I've played this, so I decided to play it and Glass Houses. Just couldn't remember which one I liked better. I'm going to say Glass Houses is the better one because 52nd Street side two is just average. Both enjoyable albums, although a step down from The Stranger.

Winner of the 1980 Grammy for album of the year

A step down from The Stranger, but still a solid effort. Not as melodically memorable as The Stranger, and the lyrics aren't as good either. A more jazzy foray than his previous album. It's frontloaded and Side 2 slips in quality but besides the weakest track "Rosalinda's Eyes" - which is still a decent song - everything else is quality. "Big Shot" and "'My Life" are the two best tracks on the album.

This album definitely peaks on side 1 and then slowly declines as you get towards the closing of the album. It opens in explosive style with Big Shot which literally bursts onto the scene and gives you a fantastic melodic start to the record. You then get 3 of the best songs on the record all in a row in the form of Honesty, My Life and Zanzibar. All of them are so well written and are so catchy that you can't help but love them. All the songs on here in fact are well written and I do think Billy Joel is an under rated song writer and deserves more credit for his abilities. After that we move onto Stiletto which does drop in quality but still is quite a good song and is easy to enjoy. It is all filler in my opinion after that song and those 4 last tracks do feel unnecessary for me. This is the big issue for the record for me and is what holds it back from his better releases. Overall, there is a lot of great singles on here but the album falls flat at the middle point.

Like so many Billy Joel albums, it is front loaded.

Didn't realize how much I liked Billy Joel until I re-listened them for my ranking, this album doesn't stand up to the major albums of the decade, but is a very fun album to listened to.

From llibnanoon 07/23/2020 20:26 | #256095

Two of his best tracks are on this album, Honesty and My Life! Rating (82.22)

In between his two great periods. Good, but not great.

From jbfarmer 06/10/2019 18:00 | #237384

Billy Joel followed up his hit The Stranger with his best work, 52 Street. The songwriting is all-around better, with more meaningful lyrics, more complex harmonies, and a cohesive album concept. Bill Joel really outdid himself on this one.

The first three songs were justifiable hit singles. However, the album is so much more than them. I recommend giving the whole thing a go.