This item not eligible for any further discount offers!
Numbered Limited Edition Hybrid SACD! Mastered From Original Master Tapes!
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 169/500!
Joel’s Breakthrough Record Is Loaded With Smash Hits: “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song),” “Just the Way You Are,” “Only the Good Die Young,” “She’s Always a Woman”.
Getting It Right: Mobile FidelityÂ’s Transparent SACD Version Brings Phil RamoneÂ’s Celebrated Production into Full-Color Detail
1977 Set a Grammy Winner for Record of the Year and Song of the Year
Billy Joel entered 1977 with a great track record but in need of breakthrough. Pairing with producer Phil Ramone (Carly Simon, Simon & Garfunkel), who developed the requisite ingredients missing from JoelÂ’s formula, the singer-songwriter became a household name and chart-topping success courtesy of The Stranger. Ranked 67 on Rolling StoneÂ’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and certified ten-times platinum, JoelÂ’s artistic and commercial smash remains a pop-rock benchmark. Better still, it now sounds astonishing.
An integral part of Mobile FidelityÂ’s Billy Joel catalog restoration series, The Stranger is mastered from the original master tapes and made available on transparent hybrid SACD. Far superior to previous reissues, this edition emphasizes the crucial touches and insightful techniques Ramone brought to a batch of material that ranks among JoelÂ’s most clever, catchy, and sagacious.
Whereas a handful of JoelÂ’s preceding efforts feature a near-flawless mix of melodic arrangements and poignant lyrics, the aspects he sought in order to graduate into a more serious artist arrive here via RamoneÂ’s more muscular, fleshed-out, and rock-enabling production. The streamlined approach slightly strips back the sweeping developments heard on Piano Man and Turnstiles, and on this edition, lays bare the core of the material, allowing the vocalistÂ’s bittersweet yearning, rollicking 88 notes, and working-class conviction to emanate with full-bodied detail, vivid color, and grand-scale dynamics.
A Grammy winner for both Record and Song of the Year, “Just the Way You Are” epitomizes Joel’s balladic reach, his ability to transfer wistful sentiments and lovelorn emotions. He also flashes a mean streak. The animated “Only the Good Die Young” bounces and hops to an updated classic-R&B rhythm and, underneath its beauty, “She’s Always A Woman” hints at trouble underfoot. And then there’s the New York-centric, character-rich poetry of the vignettes.
Akin to many of his influences, Joel nails the grit, personality, specificity, descriptiveness, and behavior of protagonists that populate “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” and “Scenes From an Italian Diner,” each equally at home on The Stranger as well as on a Broadway play or on a golden-era Hollywood film soundtrack. No wonder that, just months after its original release, Joel was no longer a stranger to any of the music-loving public. He would never look back.
"DonÂ’t pass up this seminal pop-rock work in the best fidelity itÂ’s ever enjoyed... The label unlocks more low-level detail on this record, which was horribly compressed for radio airplay... you can immediately hear the increased soundstage width; that on the original sounds like the band is trying to win one of those contests where they see how many people can stuff themselves inside a Volkswagen. This version sounds more like musicians playing in a real space. JoelÂ’s piano, too, sounds revitalized. Throughout, thereÂ’s more ambience to his playing. It now comes across as if heÂ’s playing a big-boy piano, and the reverb on the vocal tracks is also evident... Whether The Stranger is a guilty pleasure or a timeworn friend, it sounds better than ever." - Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine, No. 52, January 2013
DonÂ’t pass up this seminal pop-rock work in the best fidelity itÂ’s ever enjoyed.
Also Available from Billy Joel on Mobile Fidelity SACD:
Billy Joel - 52nd Street (MOBSA2090)
Billy Joel - Glass Houses (MOBSA2091)
Billy Joel - Songs In the Attic (MOBSA2092)
Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain (MOBSA2093)
Billy Joel - An Innocent Man (MOBSA2094)
Features:
• Super Audio CD
• SACD Stereo SACD Layer
• This Hybrid SACD contains a 'Red Book' Stereo CD Layer which is playable on most conventional CD Players!
• Numbered, Limited Edition
• Mastered From Original Master Tapes
Selections:
1. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song
2. The Stranger
3. Just The Way You Are
4. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
5. Vienna
6. Only the Good Die Young
7. She's Always A Woman
8. Get It Right the First Time
9. Everybody Has a Dream / The Stranger (reprise)
Numbered Limited Edition Hybrid SACD! Mastered From Original Master Tapes!
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 169/500!
Joel’s Breakthrough Record Is Loaded With Smash Hits: “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song),” “Just the Way You Are,” “Only the Good Die Young,” “She’s Always a Woman”.
Getting It Right: Mobile FidelityÂ’s Transparent SACD Version Brings Phil RamoneÂ’s Celebrated Production into Full-Color Detail
1977 Set a Grammy Winner for Record of the Year and Song of the Year
Billy Joel entered 1977 with a great track record but in need of breakthrough. Pairing with producer Phil Ramone (Carly Simon, Simon & Garfunkel), who developed the requisite ingredients missing from JoelÂ’s formula, the singer-songwriter became a household name and chart-topping success courtesy of The Stranger. Ranked 67 on Rolling StoneÂ’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and certified ten-times platinum, JoelÂ’s artistic and commercial smash remains a pop-rock benchmark. Better still, it now sounds astonishing.
An integral part of Mobile FidelityÂ’s Billy Joel catalog restoration series, The Stranger is mastered from the original master tapes and made available on transparent hybrid SACD. Far superior to previous reissues, this edition emphasizes the crucial touches and insightful techniques Ramone brought to a batch of material that ranks among JoelÂ’s most clever, catchy, and sagacious.
Whereas a handful of JoelÂ’s preceding efforts feature a near-flawless mix of melodic arrangements and poignant lyrics, the aspects he sought in order to graduate into a more serious artist arrive here via RamoneÂ’s more muscular, fleshed-out, and rock-enabling production. The streamlined approach slightly strips back the sweeping developments heard on Piano Man and Turnstiles, and on this edition, lays bare the core of the material, allowing the vocalistÂ’s bittersweet yearning, rollicking 88 notes, and working-class conviction to emanate with full-bodied detail, vivid color, and grand-scale dynamics.
A Grammy winner for both Record and Song of the Year, “Just the Way You Are” epitomizes Joel’s balladic reach, his ability to transfer wistful sentiments and lovelorn emotions. He also flashes a mean streak. The animated “Only the Good Die Young” bounces and hops to an updated classic-R&B rhythm and, underneath its beauty, “She’s Always A Woman” hints at trouble underfoot. And then there’s the New York-centric, character-rich poetry of the vignettes.
Akin to many of his influences, Joel nails the grit, personality, specificity, descriptiveness, and behavior of protagonists that populate “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” and “Scenes From an Italian Diner,” each equally at home on The Stranger as well as on a Broadway play or on a golden-era Hollywood film soundtrack. No wonder that, just months after its original release, Joel was no longer a stranger to any of the music-loving public. He would never look back.
"DonÂ’t pass up this seminal pop-rock work in the best fidelity itÂ’s ever enjoyed... The label unlocks more low-level detail on this record, which was horribly compressed for radio airplay... you can immediately hear the increased soundstage width; that on the original sounds like the band is trying to win one of those contests where they see how many people can stuff themselves inside a Volkswagen. This version sounds more like musicians playing in a real space. JoelÂ’s piano, too, sounds revitalized. Throughout, thereÂ’s more ambience to his playing. It now comes across as if heÂ’s playing a big-boy piano, and the reverb on the vocal tracks is also evident... Whether The Stranger is a guilty pleasure or a timeworn friend, it sounds better than ever." - Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine, No. 52, January 2013
DonÂ’t pass up this seminal pop-rock work in the best fidelity itÂ’s ever enjoyed.
Also Available from Billy Joel on Mobile Fidelity SACD:
Billy Joel - 52nd Street (MOBSA2090)
Billy Joel - Glass Houses (MOBSA2091)
Billy Joel - Songs In the Attic (MOBSA2092)
Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain (MOBSA2093)
Billy Joel - An Innocent Man (MOBSA2094)
Features:
• Super Audio CD
• SACD Stereo SACD Layer
• This Hybrid SACD contains a 'Red Book' Stereo CD Layer which is playable on most conventional CD Players!
• Numbered, Limited Edition
• Mastered From Original Master Tapes
Selections:
1. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song
2. The Stranger
3. Just The Way You Are
4. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
5. Vienna
6. Only the Good Die Young
7. She's Always A Woman
8. Get It Right the First Time
9. Everybody Has a Dream / The Stranger (reprise)
