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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
![Elton John [Bonus Tracks]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0602498241219_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Elton John [Bonus Tracks]")
