8. Billy Joel--Songs In the Attic
#8: Billy Joel--Songs In the Attic (1981)
\Top-Notch Tracks: "Summer, Highland Falls," [HJ200 #19], "She's Got a Way," [HJ200 #71], "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway,)" "The Ballad of Billy the Kid," "Everybody Loves You Now," "You're My Home," "Say Goodbye to Hollywood"
Album Depth: "Streetlife Serenade," "Los Angelenos," "I've Loved These Days," "Captain Jack"
Weak Links: Previously recorded (not) in front of a live, studio audience.
Stand-Out Lyrics: "They say that these are not the best of times, but they're the only times I've ever known."--"Summer, Highland Falls"
"She's got a smile that heals me. I don't know why it is, but I have to laugh when she reveals me."--"She's Got a Way"
"They said that Queens could stay. They blew the Bronx away. And sank Manhattan out at sea."--"Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)"
"Well, he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma, and the law just could not seem to track him down."--"The Ballad of Billy the Kid"
"Ah, they all want your white body, and they await your reply. But between you and me and the Staten Island Ferry, so do I."--"Everybody Loves You Now"
"Home can be the Pennsylvania turnpike. Indiana's early morning dew. High up in the hills of California, home is just another word for you."--"You're My Home"
"Moving on is a chance you take every time you try to stay together. Say a word out of line, you find that the friends you had are gone forever. Forever."--"Say Goodbye to Hollywood"
"Going into garages for exotic massages, making up for all the time gone by."--"Los Angelenos"
"We're going long. We're gaining weight. We're sleeping long, and far too late."--"I've Loved These Days"
"So you stand on the corner in your new English clothes. And you look so polished from your head down to your toes. Ah, but still your finger's gonna pick your nose, after all."--"Captain Jack"
"So we'll argue and we'll compromise, and realize that nothing's ever changed. For all our mutual experience, our separate conclusions are the same."--"Summer, Highland Falls"
"All the people want to know your name. Soon there will be lines outside your door."--"Everybody Loves You Now"
"They turned our power down, and drove us underground, but we went right on with the show."--"Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)"
"She comes to me when I'm feeling down. Inspires me. Without a sound, she touches me. And I get turned around."--"She's Got a Way"
"You're my castle, you're my cabin, and my instant pleasure dome. I need you in my house, 'cause you're my home."--"You're My Home"
"This is what you wanted, ain't you proud? 'Cause everybody loves you now."--"Everybody Loves You Now"
"Well, you're 21 and still your mother makes your bed. And that's too long."--"Captain Jack"
"So many faces in and out of my life; some will last, some will just be now and then. Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again."--"Say Goodbye to Hollywood"
"From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island rode a boy with a six-pack in his hand. And his daring life of crime made him a legend in his time, east and west of the Rio Grande."--"The Ballad of Billy the Kid"
"You know those lights were bright on Broadway. But that was so many years ago. Before we all lived here in Florida. Before the Mafia took over Mexico."--"Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)"
"And as we stand upon the ledges of our lives, with our respective similarities, it's either sadness or euphoria."--"Summer, Highland Falls"
Album cover: 8.5 out of 10. It's pretty spot on, with the pajamas and the flashlight and everything. It loses half a point because it's a little too dark up there in that attic.
Comments: Between 1977 and 1980, Billy Joel released three massively successful albums, "The Stranger," "52nd Street," and "Glass Houses." Before that, he had released four other albums that could generously be called marginally successful. Billy Joel knew that he had some great songs on those four albums. He also assumed that most of the people who bought the three massively successful albums would probably be unfamiliar with the great songs from those four marginally successful albums. Plus, Billy Joel knew that the songs from those marginally successful albums sounded better when performed with his touring band than they did with the studio players he recorded them with. And so, "Songs In the Attic" was born.
Whatever the reasons Billy released live versions of a bunch of old songs, it worked on me. I loved the songs, which, despite being old, were new to me. In fact, I liked the songs so much that I went back and bought all four of those marginally successful albums that the songs originally appeared on, making them ever-so-slightly more successful.
Generally speaking, I don't care for live albums. They usually don't sound as good as studio albums, because when an album is made in a studio, those making the album can maintain much more control over what is and isn't heard on the album. The engineers and producers can adjust and tinker with the sounds of each instrument and every vocal performance. Meanwhile, on a live album, about all that can be done is to record the live performance as it is happening. Usually that means worse sound quality than on most studio albums, and less dynamic sound.
Not so on this album, though! Whoever recorded these live performances did a fantastic job. Where many live albums sound tinny or distant, these recording sound full and vibrant--they make it sound as if the listener is right there at the concert venue with Billy Joel and his band! And, amazingly, that's true of both the softer, more intimate songs, like "Summer, Highland Falls," and "She's Got a Way," and with the stadium rockers, like "Miami 2017," and "Ballad of Billy the Kid." Maybe it's because I heard them all here first, but I prefer the live versions of each and every song on this album to the recordings from the original albums.
Picking out lyrics for the "Stand-Out Lyrics" section above made me realize just how ingrained in my brain these songs are. For forty years they've been rattling around in my head. This may have been the fourth Billy Joel album I ever purchased, but these are the songs that are the foundation for my life-long love of Billy Joel music. And I think Billy knew that if enough of the people who bought his massively successful albums took a chance on an album full of songs from his earlier albums, they just might like them, too.
This is what he wanted. Ain't he proud? 'Cause everybody loves him now!
Up next: Noah built an ark for a reason.
If you don't get goosebumps running up and down your body when you hear the live versions of "Miami 2017," "Everybody Loves You Now," and "The Ballad of Billy the Kid," then you're dead inside. Songs in the Attic was the first live album that I ever heard that I actually liked the live songs better than the original album cuts. In fact, I liked this album so much, that I often wished in high school that he would put out more live albums. Then he came out with Концерт in '87, and I regretted that wish. It just wasn't up to the same standard as Songs in the Attic. And frankly, none of the other live albums that he's put out since then have had the same impact on me as Songs in the Attic. There was something special about listening to that album at that time in my life (1980) that just can't be replicated no matter how big the venue is, how many guest singers he brings on the stage, or how many songs there are on the album. For me, in regards to live Billy Joel music, the only thing better than listening to Songs in the Attic is actually going to Billy Joel concert.
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