{"product_id":"the-stranger-1","title":"The Stranger","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joel, Billy\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Enhanced\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eRelease Date:\u003c\/b\u003e 10-11-1998\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eDetails:\u003c\/b\u003e Product Description\n\n\n His 1977 #2 smash, with Just the Way You Are, and more.\n\n\n Amazon.ca\n\n \nThis, pop superstar Joel's breakout LP, came years after he first hit the charts with the novelty-ish \"Piano Man.\" In the meantime, the New York-based songwriter released two lackluster and stylistically confused platters that blunted interesting songs with a sound that was neither Elton mellow nor Elton attitude. Produced by Phil Ramone,\n The Stranger took those who had written Joel off as a one-hit wonder by surprise (\"Just the Way You Are\" was among the biggest hits of 1977) and it remains a solid introduction to Joel's restless muse at a crucial point in his career . He invited a few comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, with his prominent sax breaks, hard-edged rebel-rockers (\"Only the Good Die Young\"), and slice-of-life dramatics (\"Scenes From an Italian Restaurant\"), recounting life in a lower middle-class (Eastern Urban) setting; but Joel's chameleonic, formalist approach to pop wasn't to be so easily pigeonholed (\n Glass Houses,\n The Nylon Curtain,\n An Innocent Man...).\n --Don Harrison\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eUPC:\u003c\/b\u003e 074646938423\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEAN:\u003c\/b\u003e 0074646938423\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eLanguages:\u003c\/b\u003e english\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eBinding:\u003c\/b\u003e Audio CD\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eItem Condition:\u003c\/b\u003e New\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ID Shop.ca","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42230060450051,"sku":"Y5-T90R-8YAJ","price":25.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0030\/9765\/7390\/products\/51WG_MRXNoL.jpg?v=1639979892","url":"https:\/\/idshop.ca\/en\/products\/the-stranger-1","provider":"ID Shop.ca","version":"1.0","type":"link"}