• Voto:
Non finirò mai di ripetere che le cose migliori sono stete fatte trent'anni fa.
Questo disco, per esempio, è una delle tante prove in cui la commercialità e l'immediatezza non hanno il significato negativo che oggi attribuiamo al panorama pop. Nove piccole perle melodiche riempite di arrangiamenti perfetti dove è la semplicità a farla da padrona abbandonando ogni tipo di sfarzo che un genere pop-romantico come questo richiederebbe per essere più emotivo.
Il disco è datato 1977, anno in cui l'europa e soprattutto l'inghilterra conoscevano la violenza e la rivoluzione del punk dove, dopo un decennio di suite e geniali strumentisti, tutto veniva ridotto a due accordi, urla e brevità. Nello stesso anno Billy Joel pubblica non di certo un album epocale o rivoluzionario, ma con una manciata di gemme pop vende dieci milioni di copie, conquista il mondo e vince un grammy (miglior brano "JUST THE WAY YOU ARE"). "The stranger", lo si capisce subito, ha come unica pretesa quella di farsi ascoltare perchè semplicemente è bellissimo.
Il superlativo è il minimo se si pensa alla qualità dei brani e la versatilità di generi con cui Billy Joel si diletta nella composizione.
Si parte con "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" in cui a farla da padrona è un testo simpatico cantanto in maniera molto divertente (a parere mio si ispira ad "Obla Di Obla Da" dei Beatles), con l'aggiunta di una base sonora che ricorda i locali di New York dei film pieni di fumo e belle signore. Il ritornello è eccezionale e si distacca dalla canzone prendendo una piega melodica più vicina alla psichedelia inglese.
Il disco prosegue con la Title Track e il suo memorabile fischiettio iniziale. Ottima performance canora di Joel con una strofa molto interpretata impastando le parole per arrivare ad uno scioltissimo ritornello in falsetto; FANTASTICO. Alla terza posizione l'hit "Just The Way You Are" che, anche se il sottoscritto non l'ha mai amata molto, è di innegabile raffinatezza e gusto; sospesa fra una ballata e un mid tempo.
Ecco che arrivati a "Scene From An Italian Restourant" Billy Joel ricorda di essere figlio del suo tempo con una piccola e pretenziosa suite che parte come una ballata per poi diventare una divertente canzone pop-rock ottima per gli stadi con i suoi "OOOOO" per poi in finale riprendere il motivo iniziale. Arrivati a questo punto ci si è accorti di come sia presente in forma massiccia il Sax che rende particolare sia il suono di questi pezzi che il loro conseguente successo di pubblico.
"Vienna" riporta ai primi lavori di Billy Joel con le sue atmosfere romantiche. Ecco un'altro singolo con "Only The Good Die Young" e il suo rock che anche qui risulta alla fine dell'ascolto divertente. In questo album album infatti sembra che l'artista voglia emozionare con le sue ballate e divertire con i brani più movimentati portando di conseguenza cosi alla semplicità di cui si parlava all'inizio.
Arriva in successione "She's Always A Woman" di cui penso sia inutile scrivere qualche parola: UN CAPOLAVORO.
Il disco chiude in fine con "Get It Right The First Time" e i suoi "LA LA LA LA LA" e il gospel/soul di "Everybody Has A Dream" e l'ennesima ottima esibizione vocale di Billy Joel.
Un disco di altri tempi.... tempi bellissimi.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
02 The Stranger (05:12)
Well we all have a face
That we hide away forever
And we take them out and show ourselves
When everyone has gone
Some are satin, some are steel
Some are silk and some are leather
They're the faces of the stranger
But we love to try them on
CHORUS
Well we all fall in love
But we disregard the danger
Though we share so many secrets
There are some we never tell
Why were you so surprised
That you never saw the stranger?
Did you ever let your lover
See the stranger in yourself?
Don't be afraid to try again
Everyone goes south
Every now and then
You've done it, why can't someone else?
You should know by now,
You've been there yourself
Once I used to believe I was such a great romancer
Then I came home to a woman
That I could not recognize
Though I pressed her for a reason,
She refused to even answer
It was then I felt the stranger
Kick me right between the eyes
REPEAT CHORUS
You may never understand
How the stranger is inspired
But he isn't always evil
And he is not always wrong
Though you drown in good intentions,
You will never quench the fire
You'll give in to your desire
When the stranger comes along
04 Scenes From an Italian Restaurant (07:38)
A bottle of white, a bottle of red
Perhaps a bottle of rose instead
We'll get a table near the street
In our old familiar place
You and I, face to face oooh
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.
Things are okay with me these days
Got a good job, got a good office
Got a new wife, got a new life
And the family is fine
Oh, we lost touch long ago
You lost weight, I did not know
You could ever look so nice after so much time!
Do you remember those days hanging out at the village green?
Engineer boots, leather jackets,and tight blue jeans
Oh, you'd drop a dime in the box play a song
About New Orleans
Cold beer, hot lights
My sweet romantic teenage nights
Brenda and Eddie were the popular steadies
And the king and the queen at the prom
Riding around with the car top down
And the radio on
Nobody looked any finer or was more of a hit at the Parkway Diner
We never knew we could want more than that out of life
Surely Brenda and Eddie would always know how to survive
Brenda and Eddie were still going steady in the summer of '75
When they decided the marriage would be at the end of July
Everyone said they were crazy
Brenda you know that you're much too lazy
And Eddie could never afford to live that kind of life
But there we were waving Brenda and Eddie goodbye.
They got an apartment with deep pile carpet
And a couple of paintings from Sears
A big waterbed that they bought with the bread
They had saved for a couple of years
But they started to fight when the money got tight
And they just didn't count on the tears
Well they lived for a while in a very nice style
But it's always the same in the end
They got a divorce as a matter of course
And they parted the closest of friends
Then the king and the queen went back to the green
But you can never go back there again.
Brenda and Eddie had had it already
By the summer of '75
From the high to the low to the end of the show
For the rest of their lives
They couldn't go back to the greasers
The best they could do was pick up their pieces
But we always knew they would both find a way to get by
Oh, that's all I heard about Brenda and Eddie
Can't tell you more cause I told you already
And here we are waving Brenda and Eddie goodbye.
A bottle of red, and bottle of white
Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight
I'll meet you anytime you want
In our Italian Restaurant
05 Vienna (03:35)
Slow down, you crazy child.
You're so ambitious for a juvenile.
But then if you're so smart, tell me why are you still so afraid?
Where's the fire? What's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out.
You got so much to do and only so many hours in a day.
But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old.
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through.
When will you realize Vienna waits for you?
Slow down, you're doing fine.
You can't be everything you wanna be before your time,
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight.
Too bad, but it's the life you lead.
You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need.
Though you can see when you're wrong,
You know, you can't always see when you're right.
You've got your passion. You've got your pride,
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true.
When will you realize Vienna waits for you?
Slow down, you crazy child.
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while.
It's all right you can afford to lose a day or two.
When will you realize Vienna waits for you?
You know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old.
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through.
Why don't you realize Vienna waits for you?
When will you realize Vienna waits for you?
06 Only the Good Die Young (03:56)
Come out, Virginia. Don't let me wait.
You Catholic girls start much too late,
Oh, but sooner or later, it comes down to fate.
I might as well be the one.
Well, they showed you a statue, told you to pray.
They built you a temple and locked you away,
Oh, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done.
Only the good die young.
That's what I said
Only the good die young
Only the good die young
You might've heard I run with a dangerous crowd.
We ain't too pretty. We ain't too proud.
We might be laughing a bit too loud,
Oh, but that never hurt no one.
So come on, Virginia, show me a sign,
Send up a signal. I'll throw you a line.
The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind
Never lets in the sun,
Darlin' only the good die young
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
I tell ya, only the good die young
Only the good die young
You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation.
You got a brand new soul
Mmmmm, and a cross of gold,
But, Virginia, they didn't give you quite enough information.
You didn't count on me
When you were counting on your rosary.
Oh oh ooh
They say there's a heaven for those who will wait.
Some say it's better but I say it ain't.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.
The sinners are much more fun,
Ya know that only the good die young
Oh oh oh, baby
I tell ya, only the good die young
Only the good die young
You say your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation.
Oh, she never cared for me,
But did she ever say a prayer for me?
Oh oh oh
Come out, come out, come out Virginia, don't let me wait.
You Catholic girls start much too late,
But sooner or later, it comes down to fate.
I might as well be the one
You know that only the good die young
Tell ya baby
You know that only the good die young
Only the good die young
Only the good
Only the good die young
Woo-oo-oo, hoo, hoo
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Altre recensioni
Di mosesgama
"Billy Joel è un romantico genietto del piano, un ex pianoman da night club diventato idolo americano."
"Il rock è emozione allo stato puro, e questo disco ne dà a profusione."
