Disc #24: Billy Joel (52nd Street)

Artist: Billy Joel
Album: 52nd Street
Released by CBS in 1978

There are certain songs and albums that just bring back a lot of memories. This is one of them. When my parents first split up, my dad had something that I had never seen before, and always looked forward to when we visited him: a CD player. Not everyone in the early 90s had one, so it was somewhat of a novelty. His collection was small at first, but we played those discs over and over on the weekends. Some of the first ones I remember are Rod Stewart's "Downtown Train", Supertramp's "Breakfast in America", Bryan Adams' "So Far So Good", Billy Joel's "Piano Man", and of course, Billy Joel's "52nd Street".

It's hard to tell why I liked this album so much. Why do you still like something that you listened to when you were younger? Do I like it because it's good or because it's familiar? In this case, maybe both.

Before we continue, I must tell of the acquisition of this album into my personal collection. In my fourth year at college, they decided to get rid of the old juke box, and were selling off the CDs. I couldn't help but take a jaunt through the collection, outdated as it was. The discs were selling for one or two dollars each, so when I saw one of my childhood favourites, it was a no-brainer.

Although it is full of late-seventies cheese, this is a well composed album, consisting of many catchy tunes. I played this album a couple times through in the car, and did my best version of karaoke Billy Joel. The weather's getting a little nicer, so I had the windows down. I then found myself turning down the volume as I got to a red light. Sorry Billy, it was just instinct. I didn't mean to do it. It was just an autonomous reaction. Does that mean that deep down I really don't think that it is good music?

For time's sake, let's say that the answer is "no". Everybody loves at least a little bit of Billy Joel. Some memorable tracks that you may know are "Big Shot" and "Honesty". Even my sister-in-law got in the car and said, "Hey, 'My Life!' I love that song!" So do I, Anna, and who doesn't? I just wish the album was longer. It's quite short, and probably only runs at about 45 minutes.

All cheese aside, this is a fun album to listen to. I'm not sure how much you would like it if you didn't grow up with it like I did, because it's pretty dated. Putting all of this into consideration, I think that I will give this one a score of:

7

I know that I might take some criticism for that score, but go ahead with your own life. Leave me alone.

Join me next time as the experiment continues with Disc #25: Bing Crosby (20th Century Masters: The Best of Bing Crosby - The Christmas Collection).