52nd Street (studio album) by Billy Joel

A step down from The Stranger, but still a solid effort. Not as melodically memorable as The Stranger, and the lyrics aren't as good either. A more jazzy foray than his previous album. It's frontloaded and Side 2 slips in quality but besides the weakest track "Rosalinda's Eyes" - which is still a decent song - everything else is quality. "Big Shot" and "'My Life" are the two best tracks on the album.

This album definitely peaks on side 1 and then slowly declines as you get towards the closing of the album. It opens in explosive style with Big Shot which literally bursts onto the scene and gives you a fantastic melodic start to the record. You then get 3 of the best songs on the record all in a row in the form of Honesty, My Life and Zanzibar. All of them are so well written and are so catchy that you can't help but love them. All the songs on here in fact are well written and I do think Billy Joel is an under rated song writer and deserves more credit for his abilities. After that we move onto Stiletto which does drop in quality but still is quite a good song and is easy to enjoy. It is all filler in my opinion after that song and those 4 last tracks do feel unnecessary for me. This is the big issue for the record for me and is what holds it back from his better releases. Overall, there is a lot of great singles on here but the album falls flat at the middle point.

Like so many Billy Joel albums, it is front loaded.

Didn't realize how much I liked Billy Joel until I re-listened them for my ranking, this album doesn't stand up to the major albums of the decade, but is a very fun album to listened to.

From llibnanoon 07/23/2020 20:26

Two of his best tracks are on this album, Honesty and My Life! Rating (82.22)

In between his two great periods. Good, but not great.

From jbfarmer 06/10/2019 18:00

Billy Joel followed up his hit The Stranger with his best work, 52 Street. The songwriting is all-around better, with more meaningful lyrics, more complex harmonies, and a cohesive album concept. Bill Joel really outdid himself on this one.

The first three songs were justifiable hit singles. However, the album is so much more than them. I recommend giving the whole thing a go.

Maybe not as good as The Stranger, but it's definitely a classic and deserves some more love. Like The Stranger, every song deserves a listen.

Definitely my favorite Bily Joel album. Don't get me wrong, if you're measuring my individual songs, Stranger obviously wins. But as an ALBUM, 52nd street definitely is more cohesive, and every single track is good, as opposed to two or three tracks on the stranger I cant ever stand to listen to.