Billy Joel - Piano Man 1973

Исполнитель: Billy Joel
Альбом: Piano Man
Жанр: Rock, Pop, Soft Rock
Год: 1973
Страна: USA
Лейбл: Columbia ((P) 1973 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment)
Формат: FLAC (tracks)
Official DR value: DR8
Разрядность: 24bit / 96kHz Stereo
Размер: 968 MB
Источник: qobuz
Залито на: XFile (3% восстановление)

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Embittered by legal disputes with his label and an endless tour to support a debut that was dead in the water, Billy Joel hunkered down in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, spending six months as a lounge singer at a club. He didn't abandon his dreams -- he continued to write songs, including "Piano Man," a fictionalized account of his weeks as a lounge singer. Through a combination of touring and constant hustling, he landed a contract with Columbia and recorded his second album in 1973. Clearly inspired by Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection, not only musically but lyrically, as well as James Taylor, Joel expands the vision and sound of Cold Spring Harbor, abandoning introspective numbers (apart from "You're My Home," a love letter to his wife) for character sketches and epics. Even the title track, a breakthrough hit based on his weeks as a saloon singer, focuses on the colorful patrons, not the singer. If his narratives are occasionally awkward or incomplete, he compensates with music that gives the songs a sweeping sense of purpose -- they feel complete, thanks to his indelible melodies and savvy stylistic repurposing. He may have borrowed his basic blueprint from Tumbleweed Connection, particularly with its Western imagery and bluesy gospel flourishes, but he makes it his own, largely due to his melodic flair, which is in greater evidence than on Cold Spring Harbor. Piano Man is where he suggests his potential as a musical craftsman. He may have weaknesses as a lyricist -- such mishaps as the "instant pleasuredome" line in "You're My Home" illustrate that he doesn't have an ear for words -- but Piano Man makes it clear that his skills as a melodicist can dazzle.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Трэклист:

01. Travelin' Prayer (Album Version)
02. Piano Man (Album Version)
03. Ain't No Crime (Album Version)
04. You're My Home (Album Version)
05. The Ballad of Billy the Kid (Album Version)
06. Worse Comes to Worst (Album Version)
07. Stop in Nevada (Album Version)
08. If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You) (Album Version)
09. Somewhere Along the Line (Album Version)
10. Captain Jack (Album Version)

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