I Don’t Like Him But I Like This Album: The Stranger (1977)
By: Alex Gaby
Tags: Album, Review, Music, Album Review, 1970s

Best Song: “She’s Always A Woman”

Worst Song: “Everybody Has A Dream”

I am not a fan of Billy Joel.

I know, file it under #unpopularopinion, but I’m just not. He’s just a decent songwriter; he’s written some good songs but hardly any great ones (“Piano Man” is about it) and generally his melodies are elementary. He’s not terribly original; he comes across many times as either a second-rate Paul McCartney or a second-rate Elton John. He seems to be aware of it too; he has even been quoted as saying “I don’t think I’m all that good. I think I’m competent…” To me, he’s the Eagles of the singer-songwriter genre; overrated, has one great song and the rest range from decent to terrible, middle of the road and not exciting.

That being said, The Stranger is a solid album. Not great by any stretch (although there are stretches of greatness) but a good solid album where he decides to display his strengths; sensitive if biting lyrics, his oh-so-friendly vocals and of course, his piano playing (though I still think Elton John is better).

You wouldn’t know it from the first song though. “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” is a terrible song. I know a lot of people like it, but it sounds like a bad Paul McCartney outtake and that weird repetition on the words “attack” and “Cadillac” is just embarrassing. Some of the lyrics aren’t bad but it’s mostly dumb. I will give this track credit for being memorable if irritatingly catchy; the last two songs “Get It Right The First Time” and “Everybody Has A Dream” are next to forgettable. I’ll still take the former over “Movin Out” due to its frenetic drive (it’s unfortunate the great lyrics don’t match the non-existent melody) but there’s a reason they are the only two songs on the album that don’t have their own Wikipedia page.

I also personally don’t care that much for “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant”. I find it musically pretentious; it tries to be epic but the different movements aren’t distinguishable enough, it’s too long and while the lyrics aren’t bad (the story he tries to tell is lame), the only lyrics I remember from the song are the “oooo’s”.

Where the album first shows promise is the title track. It starts out with Billy Joel’s trademark: the solemn, boring lounge style piano bit. Don’t go away though! A minute in, a great guitar part with a glam rock flavor shows up and keeps the energy going throughout the song. Billy Joel prevents it from being a true rocker (the guy couldn’t rock a chair) but accompanies it with a catchy chorus and biting lyrics (well we all fall in love/but we disregard the danger).

Next is the Billy Joel standard: the piano ballad. A lot of people go on about “Just The Way You Are” and how great it is, but I really don’t hear anything special; it’s just a nice little ballad with touching lyrics. It doesn’t hold a candle to “She’s Always A Woman”, which sounds like an homage to Bob Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman”. A portrait of a hot and cold woman, there’s something about the cynical lyrics (she is frequently kind and suddenly cruel/she can do as she pleases, she’s nobody’s fool) followed by the lamenting refrain of “but she’s always a woman to me” that breaks my heart. It’s my personal vote for the best song on the album.

However, “Only The Good Die Young” comes close. The lyrics are some of Joel’s best (it has one of the best lines Joel ever wrote: I’d rather laugh with the sinners/than cry with the saints); punk and metal bands could only dream of writing anti-religious lyrics this on point. Plus, the jaunty instrumental bit after Joel sings the line “only the good die young” is one of his best melodic bits.

“She’s Always A Woman” and “Only The Good Die Young” may be the best songs but the true hidden gem on here is “Vienna”. Maybe it’s not a hidden gem; Joel cited it as one of his personal favorite songs and apparently it’s a concert staple. The piano playing is nice, but what really makes it are Joel’s vocals. When Joel gives this girl (or really us) advice he manages to sound friendly and not condescending, unlike many other musicians who try to give advice in their songs (*cough* Roger Waters *cough*).

This is the first Billy Joel album I’ve listened to and honestly I don’t want to listen to another one, for fear of tarnishing this experience. There’s some filler on here but overall it’s very consistent; it’s the best second-rate album you’ll ever find. Kidding.

Track List (Ranked Strongest To Weakest)