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E' molto grave che in questo sito nessuno abbia ancora pensato di recensire un album di Billy Joel, un'artista forse troppo sottovalutato...
Spesso definito l'Elton John americano, Joel è meno trasgressivo ed eccentrico del suo collega, ma è un artista di grande e raffinata sensibilità musicale. La sua passione per la musica classica si intuisce facilmente dal suo repertorio, dove si amalgama col folk, il country, il rock ecc.. Diciamo che Joel è l'opposto di Lou Reed, l'altra faccia di New York. Certo, sicuramente Reed ha più spessore, ma Billy Joel è un romantico genietto del piano, un ex pianoman da night club che è passato anche dalla boxe prima di diventare uno degli artsti più amati dal pubblico americano.
"The Stranger" è forse, assieme a "Piano Man" il suo disco migliore. E' il primo album a lanciarlo nel mondo del successo commerciale assoluto, un lavoro dove si mischia la vocazione classico-romantica a quella folk-rock più alla moda.
Il disco si apre con "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", una canzone diretta e leggermente tragica, che racconta di Anthony appunto. Un inizio che passa in fretta aprendo il sipario a un album leggero, romantico e pur senza spicchi rivoluzionari, si può definire perfetto, quadrato, tutto si accompagna in maniera ideale.
La seconda traccia, "The Stranger", è annunciata da un malinconico lavoro al piano, e il fischiettio solitario di Joel, quest'overture di grande poesia lascia subito spazio a una canzone aggressiva (sempre nello stile dell'artista però), e dopo circa 5 minuti, ricade nella malinconia con cui era iniziata.
"Just The Way You Are", è forse il pezzo più celebre dell'artista, una ballata soffice, dall'immenso romanticismo, da serata a lume di candele. La bellissima voce di Billy, si accompagna alla strumentazione leggera e agli interventi felini del sax, che ci delizia verso la fine del pezzo, con un'assolo dolce e levigato.
Il quarto pezzo è una delle canzoni più belle dell'album, un pezzo lungo pieno di atmosfera come il suo titolo, "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant". Una canzone lunga, divisa in tre parti dal ritmo molto diverso. Dall'atmosfera da tramonto autunnale, si passa al ritmo da orchestra comunale e così via... per poi godere delle strimpellate pianistiche dell'artista.
"Vienna", città che Joel ama sopratutto per la sua storia musicale, è il titolo del pezzo seguente, ancora una volta una malinconica ballata per piano, meno lenta, ma atmosfericamente intensa come le altre. La fisarmonica e il piano amoreggiano con la dolce voce dell'artista.
"Only The Good Die Young" fu accusata di anti-cristianesimo e Joel fu minacciato al concerto di St. Louis e consigliato di non eseguirla, lui naturalmente ignorò qualsiasi minaccia e suonò il pezzo per ben due volte. Questa è una canzone allegra rispetto alle altre, con un ritmo piacevole e con un intermezzo di sax molto trascinante.
La canzone numero sette è bellissima, "She's Always A Woman" è il pezzo Joeliano per eccellenza, romantico e malinconico, con quella voce bellissima che galleggia sulle note del piano. Una canzone d'amore da far venire i lacrimoni a chi ha qualcosa da ricordare...
Dopo la dolcezza della sette, alla otto tornano i ritmi semi-rock. "Get It Right The First Time" è un pezzo di poco peso, leggero ma molto piacevole, con il canticchiare di Billy che fa godere l'orecchio. Il viaggio nella New York Joleiana è stato romantico e sensuale, si chiude degnamente, con un pezzo levigato e soffice "Everybody Has A Dream", accompagnato da un coro quasi Gospel, un tipico saluto. Tutto e lento, il piano, la voce, il ritmo.
Poi la musica si spegne e il malinconico fischiettio di "The Stranger" torna allontanandosi verso il tramonto...
Billy Joel è un autore di spessore, non ha certo rivoluzionato il rock, ma sa il fatto sua. Inoltre è uno dei migliori pianisti rock di sempre, e anche un grande performer dal vivo. Chi crede che il rock sia solo infiniti assoli di chitarra, a gente che muore per overdose, sbaglia di grosso. Il rock è emozione allo stato puro, e questo disco di emozioni ne da...
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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Di simo ghelli
"The Stranger" ha come unica pretesa quella di farsi ascoltare perché semplicemente è bellissimo.
Un disco di altri tempi... tempi bellissimi.
