Billy Joel — The Stranger
album review

LYRICS FROM "SCENES FROM AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT"
A bottle of white, a bottle of red;
Perhaps a bottle of rosé instead.
We'll get a table near the street,
In our old familiar place;
You and I, face to face.
A bottle of red, a bottle of white;
It all depends upon your appetite.
I'll meet you any time you want
In our Italian Restaurant.

Album Review: Billy Joel probably reached his artistic peak in 1976 on the album Turnstiles, with its high-concept lyrics and sweeping melodies. But it was his next album—The Stranger— that would put him over the top with fans. The Stranger featured a more hit-oriented sound than any of his previous albums, and intentionally so, since the other albums had not exactly made him a household name. That would all change with the raft of hits that came off The Stranger, including the rocked-out "Only the Good Die Young," the bouncy "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" and the slightly schmaltzy "Just the Way You Are." The fourth hit from the album, "She's Always a Woman," retained more of the slick artistry that was in abundance on Turnstiles, as did the title track, "The Stranger," a stylish look in the mirror for anyone with a few dark corners in their mind. "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" is one of those great song-within-a-song things, with warm, ballad-style opening and closing sections, and a rave-up treatment of the romance-to-ruin lives of a young couple in the middle. "Vienna" is perhaps the best track on the album, combining Joel's penchant for writing lyrics that are both light and meaningful with his brilliant way with a melody. At this point (1977), Billy Joel's hit-studded career was really just getting started, and the next five years would see him reach the heights of rock stardom. The Stranger was a worthy fuse for that musical rocket.

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