HondoJoe's 60 Favorite-ish Albums

  #2: Billy Joel--Glass Houses  (1980) Top Notch Tracks:  "You May Be Right," [ HJ200  #15,] "All For Leyna," [ HJ200  #44,] "Sometimes a Fantasy," [ HJ200  #107,] "Sleeping With the Television On," [ HJ200  #120,] "Close To the Borderline," [ HJ200  #186 ( shoulda been higher, )] "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me," [ HJ200-shoulda been ,] "I Don't Want To Be Alone," [ HJ200-shoulda been ,] "Don't Ask Me Why" Album Depth:  "C'etait Toi (You Were the One,)" "Through the Long Night" Weak Links:   Stand-Out Lyrics:  It just may be a lunatic you're looking for. Billy Joel-- Glass Houses Billy Joel-- Glass Houses (back cover) Album cover:  14 out of 10. Come on, how perfect is this? He's got the tough guy outfit and the tough guy pose, (which match the tough guy music on the album.) He's armed and cocked and ready to throw the rock. There's the reflection of him...

  #3: Billy Joel--The Stranger   (1977) Top-Notch Tracks:  "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" [ HJ200  #3], "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) [ HJ200  #140], "Vienna," "She's Always a Woman," "Only the Good Die Young," "Just the Way You Are," "The Stranger," "Get It Right the First Time" Album Depth:  "Everybody Has a Dream" Weak Links: Stand-Out Lyrics:  I don't want clever conversation. (I never want to work that hard.) Billy Joel-- The Stranger Album cover:  8 out of 10. It's really a pretty weird album cover. The focal point , of course, is the mask, and the fact that Billy appears to be looking at it longingly. But, there are other oddities, such as the unmade bed, the fact that he's wearing a suit but has bare feet, and, the boxing gloves hanging from the wall. (Doesn't everyone have boxing gloves hanging on their wall?) It's odd, but it's familiar. I may never und...

#4: Electric Light Orchestra--On the Third Day  (1973) Top-Notch Tracks:  "Ocean Breakup/King of the Universe," [ HJ200  #42], "Dreaming of 4000," [ HJ200  #82], "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle," [ HJ200  #185], "Showdown," "Daybreaker," "In the Hall of the Mountain King," "New World Rising/Ocean Breakup (reprise,)" "Oh No Not Susan" Album Depth:  "Bluebird Is Dead"  Weak Links:  Not enough bellybuttons. Stand-Out Lyrics:  "It's all making me ready. It's all doing what you gotta do."--"Ocean Breakup/King of the Universe" "Feel the soul, quiet emotion. Sail on by, helpless devotion. If that's how it feels, it better be real."--"Dreaming of 4000" "Got love, if that's what you need. I got three or four babies sittin' on my knee. I got good love waiting for you. I come sneaking 'round the corner of the avenue."--"Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" ...

  #5: Electric Light Orchestra--Discovery  (1979) Top-Notch Tracks:  "The Diary of Horace Wimp," [ HJ200  #8], "Don't Bring Me Down," [ HJ200  #64], "Need Her Love," "Last Train to London," "Shine a Little Love," "Midnight Blue," "On the Run," "Confusion"  Album Depth:  "Wishing" Weak Links:   Stand-Out Lyrics:  "(Monday.) Late again today. He'd be in trouble, but he'd say he was sorry. He'd have to hurry out to the bus. (Tuesday.) Horace was so sad. He'd never had a girl that he could care for. And if he was late once more, he'd be out. Uh-oh."--"The Diary of Horace Wimp" "You got me running, going out of my mind. You got me thinking that I'm wasting my time."--"Don't Bring Me Down" "She gives me love that I could never hope to have. She tells me that she needs me. She tells me that she's glad. And if she goes away, ...

  #6: Electric Light Orchestra--A New World Record  (1976) Top-Notch Tracks:  "Do Ya, [ HJ200  #23], "Rockaria!" [ HJ200  #173], "Telephone Line," "Mission (A World Record,)" "Livin' Thing," "Tightrope," "Above the Clouds," "Shangri-La," "So Fine" Album Depth:  No need for depth when it's all Top-Notch! Weak Links:   Stand-Out Lyrics:  "In this life I've seen everything I can see, woman. I've seen lovers flying through the air, hand in hand. I've seen babies dancing in the midnight sun. And I've seen dreams that came from the heavenly skies above. I've seen old men crying at their own gravesides. And I've seen pigs all sitting watching picture slides. But I never seen nothin' like you!"--"Do Ya" "Sweet little lady sings like a songbird, and she'll sing the opera like you ain't never heard. But she ain't ready. No, no, no, she ain...

  #7: They Might Be Giants--Flood  (1990) Top-Notch Tracks:  "Birdhouse In Your Soul," [ HJ200  #66,] "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," [ HJ200  #80,] "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair," [ HJ200  #138,] "Minimum Wage," "Whistling In the Dark," "Particle Man," "Twisting," "They Might Be Giants," "Letterbox," "Your Racist Friend," "Dead" Album Depth:  "Theme from Flood," "Lucky Ball and Chain," "Women and Men," "We Want a Rock," "Road Movie to Berlin," "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love," "Hot Cha," "Hearing Aid" Weak Link:  Lack of success on the Billboard charts. Stand-Out Lyrics:  "Why is the world in love again? Why are we marching hand in hand? Why are the ocean levels rising up? It's a brand new record for 1990, They Might Be Giants brand new album, Flood!"--"Theme from Flood" ...