Word: 52nd
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With his latest release, 52nd Street, Joel returns with more musical innovation. His melodies are innovative, catchy and--for the most part--lively. But slickness is the album's failing. A marketable brand of polish glosses over the raw power that has highlighted Billy Joel's past albums...
However, the two slow ballads from 52nd Street point up the peculiar failing of this album. Both songs work from the success of "Just the Way You Are," but neither is as sincere. "Honesty" is innocent enough, a sweet, simple melody which allows Joel to experiment with a soft vocal. But the song smacks of Elton John's "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word," and falls flat into a canned, pop sound...
...vocals from Chicago's Peter Cetera and Donnie Decus. The latter experiments with some faint Latin rhythm and a few typical Steely Dan cliches, mixing in a fine jazz trumpet solo by Freddie Hubbard. It is the album's best mood piece, and possibly the most creative work on 52nd Street...
...SPUNK of the quick parting shot, "52nd Street," confirms that Billy Joel is still full of life; but it is an unsatisfying end to an unsatisfying album. Joel said he wouldn't stagnate with the sound of The Stranger, and this latest album certainly represents a departure. But there is a loss of verve and expression here which disturbs the long-time Billy Joel fan. It's good music, but not up to Billy Joel quality. His success lies in the character that has pervaded his music, and on 52nd Street, we get it only in fleeting moments...
...steps, an impromptu amphitheater, crowds consuming hot dogs and lemonade could watch the street circus, then wander into the museum's cool caverns to savor a Rembrandt and hieroglyphics. All up and down Manhattan, street musicians played-saxophones, cellos, violins, steel drums. On Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets, across from the Manufacturers Hanover Trust building, a brass quintet called the Waldo Park Players blew tunes ranging from the Beatles to Mendelssohn. One night more than 150,000 New Yorkers and visitors came to Central Park's Sheep Meadow. They laid out blankets and picnic suppers, bottles...