Billy Joel

The 40th anniversary edition of "The Stranger" from Billy Joel is out on December 26, 2018. This product features SACD Hybrid format with 5.1ch surround on SACD layer produced by Phil Ramone. 2ch voice track features 2011 digital remastering by Ted Jensen. CD layer includes five bonus tracks taken from a concert held at Nassau coliseum in 1977. Disc 2 includes live tracks taken from a concert at Carnegie Hall in 1977, which is included in "The Stranger" 30th anniversary edition, and this disc features Blu-spec CD2 format for this release.

In July-August 1987, after 100 shows around the world on The Bridge Tour, Billy Joel accepted the Kremlin's invitation to the U.S.S.R. for six fully-staged rock shows in Moscow and Leningrad, fulfilling a long-time desire to perform in Russia. During their stay, Billy and his family, along with musicians, staff, and a huge press entourage spent their days interacting with the Russian people, forging true bonds of friendship wherever they went.

Billy Joel was born on May 9, 1949 in the Bronx and shortly after moved to the Levittown section of Hicksville, Long Island, New York where he started playing piano at the age of 4. In 1964, inspired by the Beatles, he formed his first band "The Echoes", which became "The Lost Souls" in 1965 and then "The Emerald Lords" in 1966. In 1967 he joined "The Hassles" and recorded two albums, which were not successful…

Billy Joel’s legendary 1990 concert at Yankee Stadium stands as one of the greatest concert films of all time. Shot in 16mm color film, the original concert has now been meticulously re-mixed and re-edited. The newly edited version includes a never-before-released performance of “Uptown Girl” along with interviews from Billy and behind-the-scenes footage from the event’s production. The set list consists of re-edited versions of songs from the original film including “Piano Man,” “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” “New York State Of Mind,” “Shout” and more - all live from the ionic stadium in The Bronx.

Recording The Nylon Curtain exhausted Billy Joel, and even though it had a pair of major hits, it didn't rival its predecessors in terms of sales. Since he labored so hard at the record, he decided it was time for a break – it was time to record an album just for fun. And that's how his homage to pre-Beatles pop, An Innocent Man, was conceived: it was designed as a breezy romp through the music of his childhood. Joel's grasp on history isn't remarkably astute – the opener "Easy Money" is a slice of Stax/Volt pop-soul, via the Blues Brothers (quite possibly the inspiration for the album), and the label didn't break the pop charts until well after the British Invasion – but he's in top form as a craftsman throughout the record.

William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer and pianist. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man", he has been making music since the 1960s, releasing popular albums throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s…

Billy Joel - Piano Man (1973). Embittered by legal disputes with his label and an endless tour to support a debut that was dead in the water, Billy Joel hunkered down in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, spending six months as a lounge singer at a club. He didn't abandon his dreams - he continued to write songs, including "Piano Man," a fictionalized account of his weeks as a lounge singer. Through a combination of touring and constant hustling, he landed a contract with Columbia and recorded his second album in 1973. Clearly inspired by Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection, not only musically but lyrically, as well as James Taylor, Joel expands the vision and sound of Cold Spring Harbor, abandoning introspective numbers (apart from "You're My Home," a love letter to his wife) for character sketches and epics…

Japanese original release. 2021 digital remastering. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Billy's solo debut, this product contains all the singles (excluding 12cm maxi-singles) released in Japan between 1973 and 1993 in the same order as the US 7inch single versions…

52nd Street (1978). 52nd Street is Billy Joel's sixth studio album and the first to reach #1 in Billboard. The 1978 release contains some essential American pop songs including the three Top 40 hits, "My Life," "Big Shot," and "Honesty."
The sophisticated and somewhat jazzy album is conceptualized like a musical, a showcase of masterful writing and musicianship. Joel interjects rock, soul and Latin rhythyms along with the jazz. The music flows together smoothly, thanks to Phil Ramone's seamless production and Joel's melodic craftsmanship. The jazz influences come through most strongly on "Zanzibar" - featuring Freddie Hubbard's trumpet solos - "Stiletto," and the title track. The album's standout is the gorgeously layered love song, "Until the Night"…