The Stranger: 30th Anniversary [2CD and 1DVD] [Remastered] [Deluxe Boxset] (CD) (Includes DVD) (Remaster)

By the summer of 1977, Billy Joel was still searching for the elusive hits that would make him a viable artist on Columbia Records. His first four albums for the company had yielded only the minor hit "Piano Man", but nothing that would cement Billy's place on the artist roster. In June of that year, Billy played the last shows of the Turnstiles tour at New York's Carnegie Hall. The hometown shows were sold out and Columbia recorded them for posterity. In the audience one night was the legendary recording engineer Phil Ramone, who was making a name for himself as a producer of artists like Paul Simon, Phoebe Snow and Bob Dylan. Ramone liked what he saw and wanted to immediately start working with Billy and his band - something no other producer wanted to do. They entered the studio in July and began a five week true masterpiece. Starting with songs that were already finished like the multi-part suite "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant", the band recorded nine songs that would come to define Billy's various influences and styles. From the rough rock of tracks like "The Stranger" to the tender side of "She's Always A Woman" to the vintage rock and roll aesthetic of "Only The Good Die Young", the album would launch Billy's career from opening act to full-blown arena headliner. Didn't hurt that the album won two Grammy awards for the signature track "Just The Way You Are" in 1978

The 2CD Legacy Edition of The Stranger marks the album's 30th anniversary with a new remaster of the original album as well as the never-before-released June 3 show from that fateful Carnegie Hall run.

The 2CD+DVD Deluxe Edition offers the same two discs of music PLUS a DVD of live promo clips, a 30 minute documentary featuring new interviews with Billy and Phil AND Billy's March 14, 1978 performance on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test. Both packages contain new liner notes by Rolling Stone senior editor Dave Fricke. The Deluxe Edition also includes a reproduction of the Carnegie Hall poster and a facsimile of Billy's own lyric notebook.

By BGM