Billy Joel The Stranger Numbered Limited Edition Hybrid Stereo SACD

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Numbered Limited Edition Hybrid SACD! Mastered From OriginalMaster Tapes!
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time – Rated 169/500!

Joel’s Breakthrough Record Is Loaded With Smash Hits: “Movin’ Out (Anthony’sSong),” “Just the Way You Are,” “Only the Good Die Young,” “She’s Always aWoman”.

Getting It Right: Mobile Fidelity’s Transparent SACD Version Brings PhilRamone’s Celebrated Production into Full-Color Detail

1977 Set a Grammy Winner for Record of the Year and Song of the Year

Billy Joel entered 1977 with a great track record but in need of breakthrough.Pairing with producer Phil Ramone (Carly Simon, Simon & Garfunkel), whodeveloped the requisite ingredients missing from Joel’s formula, thesinger-songwriter became a household name and chart-topping success courtesy ofThe Stranger. Ranked 67 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums ofAll Time and certified ten-times platinum, Joel’s artistic and commercial smashremains a pop-rock benchmark. Better still, it now sounds astonishing.

An integral part of Mobile Fidelity’s Billy Joel catalog restoration series, TheStranger is mastered from the original master tapes and made available ontransparent hybrid SACD. Far superior to previous reissues, this editionemphasizes the crucial touches and insightful techniques Ramone brought to abatch of material that ranks among Joel’s most clever, catchy, and sagacious.

Whereas a handful of Joel’s preceding efforts feature a near-flawless mix ofmelodic arrangements and poignant lyrics, the aspects he sought in order tograduate into a more serious artist arrive here via Ramone’s more muscular,fleshed-out, and rock-enabling production. The streamlined approach slightlystrips back the sweeping developments heard on Piano Man and Turnstiles, and onthis edition, lays bare the core of the material, allowing the vocalist’sbittersweet yearning, rollicking 88 notes, and working-class conviction toemanate with full-bodied detail, vivid color, and grand-scale dynamics.

A Grammy winner for both Record and Song of the Year, “Just the Way You Are”epitomizes Joel’s balladic reach, his ability to transfer wistful sentiments andlovelorn emotions. He also flashes a mean streak. The animated “Only the GoodDie Young” bounces and hops to an updated classic-R&B rhythm and, underneath itsbeauty, “She’s Always A Woman” hints at trouble underfoot. And then there’s theNew York-centric, character-rich poetry of the vignettes.

Akin to many of his influences, Joel nails the grit, personality, specificity,descriptiveness, and behavior of protagonists that populate “Movin’ Out(Anthony’s Song)” and “Scenes From an Italian Diner,” each equally at home onThe Stranger as well as on a Broadway play or on a golden-era Hollywood filmsoundtrack. No wonder that, just months after its original release, Joel was nolonger a stranger to any of the music-loving public. He would never look back.

“Don’t pass up this seminal pop-rock work in the best fidelity it’s ever enjoyed… The label unlocks more low-level detail on this record, which was horribly compressed for radio airplay… you can immediately hear the increased soundstage width; that on the original sounds like the band is trying to win one of those contests where they see how many people can stuff themselves inside a Volkswagen.This version sounds more like musicians playing in a real space. Joel’s piano, too, sounds revitalized. Throughout,there’s more ambience to his playing. It now comes across as if he’s playing a big-boy piano, and the reverb on the vocal tracks is also evident… Whether The Stranger is a guilty pleasure or a timeworn friend, it sounds better than ever.” – Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine, No. 52, January 2013

Don’t pass up this seminal pop-rock work in the best fidelity it’s ever enjoyed.

Also Available from Billy Joel on Mobile Fidelity SACD:
Billy Joel – 52nd Street (MOBSA2090)
Billy Joel – Glass Houses (MOBSA2091)
Billy Joel – Songs In the Attic (MOBSA2092)
Billy Joel – The Nylon Curtain (MOBSA2093)
Billy Joel – An Innocent Man (MOBSA2094)

Features:
• Super Audio CD
• SACD Stereo SACD Layer
• This Hybrid SACD contains a ‘Red Book’ Stereo CD Layer which is playable on most conventional CD Players!
• Numbered, Limited Edition
• Mastered From Original Master Tapes

Selections:
1. Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song
2. The Stranger
3. Just The Way You Are
4. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
5. Vienna
6. Only the Good Die Young
7. She’s Always A Woman
8. Get It Right the First Time
9. Everybody Has a Dream / The Stranger (reprise)