While Billy Joel searches his new creative impulse in the genre
\nof classical music, the rest of us do not have to suffer. Instead,
\nwe can all dig up Joel’s classic 1980 gem of a tape called
\nGlass Houses<\/i>, already 18 years old. This was the second tape
\nI ever bought. The first was the soundtrack to Olivia Newton John’s
\nmovie “Xanadu.” I was in 4th grade so what did I know? I have wore
\nout three copies of
\nGlass Houses<\/i> and, while it may not get as many turns on my
\ncassette player, it still marks, for the most part, my musical
\nroots.<\/p>\n
From the opening track, Joel’s truthful “You May Be Right”
\nsymbolizes his appeal:<\/p>\n
If I’m crazy then it’s true<\/p>\n
That it’s all because of you<\/p>\n
And you wouldn’t want me<\/p>\n
Any other way<\/p>\n
Mix in the killer saxophone solo and you get the beginnings of
\nthe Billy Joel legend.<\/p>\n
Second track, “Sometimes a Fantasy,” introduced with the sound
\nof a phone dialing, rocks with its simple guitar rock. Prominent on
\nthis track is the electric piano, which, years later, would become
\nJoel’s signature sound. But not yet.<\/p>\n
On this album, Joel created simple rock and roll. His classic
\n“It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” was introduced here, as track four
\non a five-song side. Not exactly the pinnacle position for a
\nclassic. Combine Joel shouting, “Everyone freak out!” just before
\nthe killer saxophone solo and the slick keyboard parts and you get
\na great rock and roll song.<\/p>\n
The shaker and other percussion on “Don’t Ask Me Why” are as
\nclose to adult contemporary as you can get, which is where Joel’s
\nmusic has landed. He is not considered a rock and roller anymore.
\nAside from his new classical endeavor, he’s considered an “Adult
\nContemporary” artist or so the music clubs would have you
\nbelieve.<\/p>\n
And that is evident throughout this disc. Aside from “It’s Still
\nRock And Roll To Me,” “Close To The Borderline” and “Sometimes A
\nFantasy,” most of these songs are adult contemporary. Joel fell
\nfurther into that genre with his later albums like
\nAn Innocent Man<\/i>, which my father even liked!<\/p>\n
For the record, it was Billy Joel that introduced me to cussing.
\nIt was in his song “Close To The Borderline” where Joel proclaims,
\n“I shouldn’t bitch.” Granted, that is considered tame in this day
\nand age but in 4th grade, it was like owning a copy of “Deep
\nThroat” in high school! My 4th grade class was always telling our
\nmusic teacher to play that song in class.<\/p>\n
But back to the tape. The label “Adult Contemporary” shouldn’t
\nscare you away, in this case. (I still shudder when I think about
\nhearing another adult contemporary artist by the name of Michael
\nBolton. I shudder thinking about it!) Tracks like “All For Leyna”
\nand “Sleeping With The Television On” will never make any of his
\ngreatest hits compilations.<\/p>\n
Neither will “You Were the One,” which is probably my favorite
\nsong on this tape. Joel sings the verse in French and then in
\nEnglish. It’s a pretty ballad that has the same appeal, for me, as
\n“Piano Man.” Why it never caught on as one of his “greatest” tunes
\nis still something about which I wonder.<\/p>\n
The influence of
\nGlass Houses<\/i> is still being felt today. I recently heard a
\npunk band by the name of 30 FootFall (on Fearless Records) do a
\ncover of “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me.” Another punk band, the
\nSeasick Pirates (on Nuclear Blast Records) do a cover of “The
\nLongest Time,” which was recorded by Joel in 1983. Joel’s early
\nrock songs are the foundation of a generation of rockers and, well,
\nmusic critics.
\nGlass Houses<\/i> ranks pretty damn high and has stood the test
\nof time as a great rock album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":26479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5760],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38773","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-billy-joel","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38773"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38773"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}