Billy Joel Glass Houses 24 Karat Gold CD Audio Fidelity HDCD NEU OVP Sealed Limited Numbered Edition Nr. 0802

Erscheinungsdatum: 7. September 2010
Label: Audio Fidelity  (AFZ092)
Format: Audio CD (CD-Anzahl: 1)

Tonträger HDCD
Besonderheiten Limited Edition, Nummeriert, Pappschuber, 24kt. Gold-CD
Jahr 2010
Orig. Release 1980
Zeit 35:00
Plattenfirma Audio Fidelity
Herstellungsland USA
Musikrichtung Rock:
EAN-Nr. 780014209223
Katalog-Nr. AFZ092

       Tracks

1. You May Be Right 4:15   
2. Sometimes A Fantasy 3:40   
3. Don't Ask Me Why 2:59   
4. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me 2:57   
5. All For Leyna 4:15   
6. I Don't Want To Be Alone 3:57   
7. Sleeping With The Television On 3:02   
8. C'etait Toi (You Were The One) 3:25   
9. Close To The Borderline 3:47   
10. Through The Long Night 2:43


Produktbeschreibungen

Stereoplay
Das wiedererschienene Album "Glass Houses" von 1980 mit dem Titel "It's Still Rock'n'Roll To Me", ist zwar ein hörenswertes musikalisches Kabinettstück des Pop-Zauberes, aber wegen seiner am Ghettoblaster-Sound orientierten Mittenlastigkeit alles andere als ein audiophiler Quell der Freude.
© Stereoplay

Billy Joel war zwar mit den Alben 52nd Street und The Strangers kommerziell erfolgreich geworden, doch wurde ihm vorgeworfen eigentlich ein Softrocker für Radiostationen zu sein. Eine Kritik, die Idol keinesfalls auf sich sitzen lassen wollte und mit dem 1980 erschienen Album Glass Houses beantwortete. Während Joel wohl nie wieder so rockig geklungen hat, so traf diese musikalische Mischung exakt den Geschmack der New Wave Ära und der Radiostationen dieser Zeit.
Das Album gewann den Grammy für den besten männlichen Rockgesang und ist dennoch ein bemerkenswertes Beispiel für die Durchmischung von sauber produzierten Pop-Arrangements und den verschiedenen Spielarten der Rockmusik. Der Titel „It is still Rock'n'Roll to me" sollte Billy Joels erster Nummer Eins Hit in den USA werden und das gesamte Album blieb für sechs Wochen auf Platz 1 der US-Charts.

Das Audio Fidelity ReMastering stammt von Kevin Gray und der Titel erscheint als 24 Karat-Gold-CD mit zusätzlicher HDCD-Codierung. Das Album klingt wunderbar entschlackt und lebendig ohne dabei ins unangenehme oder überpräsente abzudriften.

"1980 Grammy Awards Winner - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance"

The 1980 album begins with the sound of glass shattering - Billy Joel decided
to change musical gears for his seventh album and with producer Phil Ramone,
Glass Houses delivered a mix of hard rock, soft rock, pop, and new wave. New
sounds are present on this record, and Billy's acoustic piano gives way to heavier
keyboards, meaty guitar riffs and more prominent drums.

Glass Houses still displays the hallmarks of Billy Joel the pop craftsman and features
his first #1 single, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," as well as the hits, "Sometimes a
Fantasy" and "Don't Ask Me Why."  The album was #1 for six weeks and ranked # 4
on Billboard's year-end album chart.

Joel remains one of the greatest hitmakers of our time and this album gives us a
look at a younger artist and what is regarded as his first pure rock album.

"...Glass Houses connects immediately with a string of hits never surpassed...as powerful and succinct as Joel gets."

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The back-to-back success of The Stranger and 52nd Street may have brought Billy Joel fame and fortune, even a certain amount of self-satisfaction, but it didn't bring him critical respect, and it didn't dull his anger. If anything, being classified as a mainstream rocker — a soft rocker — infuriated him, especially since a generation of punks and new wave kids were getting the praise that eluded him. He didn't take this lying down — he recorded Glass Houses. Comparatively a harder-rocking album than either of its predecessors, with a distinctly bitter edge, Glass Houses still displays the hallmarks of Billy Joel the pop craftsman and Phil Ramone the world-class hitmaker. Even its hardest songs — the terrifically paranoid "Sometimes a Fantasy," "Sleepin' With the Television On," "Close to the Borderline," the hit "You May Be Right" — have bold, direct melodies and clean arrangements, ideal for radio play. Instead of turning out to be a fiery rebuttal to his detractors, the album is a remarkable catalog of contemporary pop styles, from McCartney-esque whimsy ("Don't Ask Me Why") and arena rock ("All for Leyna") to soft rock ("C'etait Toi [You Were the One]") and stylish new wave pop ("It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," which ironically is closer to new wave pop than rock). That's not a detriment; that's the album's strength. The Stranger and 52nd Street were fine albums in their own right, but it's nice to hear Joel scale back his showman tendencies and deliver a solid pop/rock record. It may not be punk — then again, it may be his concept of punk — but Glass Houses is the closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album.