The 1980 Listening Post - Billy Joel - Glass Houses

Billy Joel - Glass Houses

#101

Reviewed by Tom Mott

March 12 1980

Billy Joel

Glass Houses

Allen’s Rating: 5

Tom’s Rating: 

3.75 -- Deadhead Justin

3.00 -- Audio Everett

2.75 -- Tom

For an average 3.25 out of 5

Allen’s Highlights:

You May Be Right

It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me

All For Leyna

C’Etait Tok (You Were the One)

Billy Joel

Glass Houses

Tom’s Highlights:

You May Be Right

It's Still Rock and Roll

Close to the Borderline

Note from Tom: After my kids adamantly refused to listen to any of the songs and rate that album -- "that's the stupidest idea ever" -- I turned to my back neighbors for a group review. Success! Presenting: 

Deadhead Justin. Favorite Billy Joel Song: "That 'Cadillac-ac-ac-ac' one"

Audio Everett: "You know, that might be my favorite too. It's a classic. What's it called?" (It's Anthony's Song)

Tom: "I have to go with 'Always a Woman.' He always goes big with his waltzes. Allentown is a guilty pleasure."

=======================================================

YOU MAY BE RIGHT 

J: 5.00 "'I may just be the loooonatic you're looking for'" is one of my favorite lyrics of all time."

E: 3.50 "I love the end part."

T: 3.50 "I remember this from Chipmunk Punk."

SOMETIMES A FANTASY

J: 4.00 "Sure! It's catchy."

E: 2.50 "Whoa, first two songs both start with a sound effect. That's interesting."

T: 2.50 "Sounds like he's channeling The Cars."

E: 2.50 "He's talking some risks. But those 'whoas' are weak."

DON'T ASK ME WHY

J: 4.00 "This could be twice as long and turn into a steel drum reggae thing."

E: 3.50 "I like that middle part."

T: 3.50 "It sounds like the clave player gets lost a couple times."

IT'S STILL ROCK AND ROLL

J: 4.50 "I can imagine Tom Hanks dancing to this in his socks." "Tom Cruise?" "Him too."

E: 4.00 "I would be stoked if it came on at the dentist."

T: 3.50 "I have a philosophical problem with the lyrics. But I like the call and response with himself."

ALL FOR LEYNA

J: 3.00 "This is fine."

E: 2.50 "Nothing interesting here."

T: 2.50 "Billy O'Joel"

I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE

J: 3.0 "I like the lyrics. Sting could do a reggae cover of this."

E: 3.0 "It's dynamic. Goes up and down a bit."

T: 2.25 "Sting doing a reggae cover of this is my idea of hell."

SLEEPING WITH THE TELEVISION ON

J: 2.75. "Almost yacht rock. I like yacht rock."

E: 2.50. "Another sound effect! Definite small beach vibe. Not Malibu. Maybe Ventura or Pismo."

T: 2.00. "He's losing me. Downhill three songs in a row."

C'ETAIT TOIS

J: 3.00. "Worldy. A worldy song."

E: 2.00. "I don't like the French."

T: 3.00. "I like the middle-eight French part. Why do you hate the French? You must 'surrender' to it."

CLOSE TO THE BORDERLINE 

J: 3.50 "Edgy."

E: 4.50 "I like this song. I'm really surprised to hear such a strong song this late on the album."

T: 2.65 "'Edgy' in quotes." 

DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS

T: "Sounds McCartney-ish." 

J: "I don't like 'ish.' Whenever my Frisbee golf partner Anthony says 'one-ish' he's an hour late."

E: "Solid finish."

J: "It really doesn't get better than 'loooonatic you're looking for.'"

J: 3-ish 

E: 3-ish 

T: 3-ish 

FINAL VERDICTS

Deadhead Justin: "There are some great songs, but I'm not adding any of them to my Spotify Favorites because those are linked to my morning alarm."

Audio Everett: "I was surprised by that next-to-last song. Overall not a bad album, but not a monster like River of Dreams."

Tom: "When J. Geils Band had their massive hits Centerfold and Freezeframe, I bought that album. And the rest of that album was mostly filler that I tried to convince myself was good because I had spent money on it. This album reminds me of that album."

https://open.spotify.com/album/5sztejERqpktXEdemlUvU5?si=Q5cjXmMNRwCXy4H_oKttqA

The 1986 Listening Post - Billy Joel - The Bridge

Billy Joel - The Bridge

#299/1424

July 29 1986

Billy Joel

The Bridge

Genre: Rock

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Running on Ice

A Matter of Trust

One of the greatest things I’ve ever read (and nearly completely forgotten) is the Chuck Klosterman essay on Billy Joel in “Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs”. I don’t remember much except that it was a vigorous defense of Billy and, truth be told, when he is on, he’s great. And when he’s not, he’s usually just unmemorable. A good example, to me, is “This is the Time”, a song you immediately forget exists after you hear it but sounds like it’s a classic because you’ve heard it a marillion times and the chorus is actually kind of elegiac and great.

Because, as Chuck writes, Billy isn’t “cool”. He’s not anti-cool, either. He’s just, well, “the only rock star I I’ve ever loved who I never wanted to be”. 

I agree with that. It’s pretty spot on. 

Billy Joel is your social studies teacher made rock musician. 

And that’s this record. Paunchy, dull, goateed and bald. It’s a romantic comedy on TV, which is where you heard “Big Man on Mulberry St.”, on Moonlighting, an 80s version of romance, snark and shallow, fun but unmemorable. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-bridge/192816208

The 1983 Listening Post - Billy Joel - An Innocent Man

Billy Joel - An Innocent Man

August 8 1983
Billy Joel
An innocent Man
4.25 out of 5

Highlights:
An Innocent Man
The Longest Time
Tell Her About It
Uptown Girl
Leave a Tender Moment Alone
Keeping the Faith

The nostalgia trip continues back in time to the 50s…

In a way, this is the apotheosis of the Billy Joel experience. One part soul. One part Elton John. A smattering of working man rock. A healthy dose of classic 1-4-5 songwriting. A little treacle. A little wannabe rock. An overdose of doo-wop.

I’m always reminded of Chuck Klosterman when I think of Billy since his essay in “Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs” so perfectly encapsulates Joel. Here is summary in The Guardian review: “In an essay on Billy Joel - whose significance is that he's a major pop musician whom no one, ever, can think of as "cool" or want to emulate - Klosterman declares that "the musical component of rock isn't nearly as important as the iconography and the posturing and the idea of what we're supposed to be experiencing" (an amazing and telling statement for a journalist who worked extensively at the music magazine Spin). The remarkable feature of Billy Joel's album Glass Houses is that "You can't characterize your self-image through its 10 songs". Aesthetic response doesn't exist for its own sake; only for self-fashioning.”

Yeah. Billy was never cool. Liking him would never be cool. He’s a history teacher who masquerades as a rock star. The album is actually an homage to a bunch of artists that influenced Billy in his youth and the influences are on his sleeve. And that makes so much sense.

There were SEVEN singles released from this album. It was a monster. Hearing it in it’s entirety for the first time is weird cuz I think I’ve heard every song on it. Or maybe I had access to the album in some form when it came out. I can’t remember.
And that’s Billy Joel, in sum.

But, damn is it listenable. I keep going back and forth between 4.25 and 4.5, even though it scores a solid 4. Because it’s so enjoyable but it’s also so derivative. Oh well. I think that also explains Billy Joel.