Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain

Billy Joel hit back as hard as he could with Glass Houses, his bid to prove that he could rock as hard as any of those new wave punks. He might not have proven himself a punk -- for all of his claims of being a hard rocker, his work inevitably is pop because of his fondness for melody -- but he proved to himself that he could still rock, even if the critics didn't give him any credit for it. It was now time to mature, to move pop/rock into the middle age and, in the process, earn critical respect. In short, The Nylon Curtain is where Billy Joel went serious, consciously crafting a song cycle about Baby Boomers in the Reagan era. Since this was an album about Baby Boomers, he chose to base his music almost entirely on the Beatles, the pivotal rock band for his generation. Joel is naturally inclined to write big melodies like McCartney, but he idolizes Lennon, which makes The Nylon Curtain a fascinating cross between ear candy and social commentary. His desire to record a grand concept album is admirable, but his ever-present lyrical shortcomings mean that the songs paint a picture without arriving at any insights. He occasionally gets lost in his own ambition, as on the waterlogged second side, but the first half of the song suite -- "Allentown," "Laura," "Pressure," "Goodnight Saigon," "She's Right on Time" -- is layered, successful, mature pop that brings Joel tantalizingly close to his ultimate goal of sophisticated pop/rock for mature audiences. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Andy Hoffman Assistant Engineer Benno Friedman Photography Bill Zampino Drums (Snare), Drums, Percussion Billy Joel Organ, Keyboards, Producer, Harmonica, Piano, Melodica, Composer, Organ (Hammond), Synthesizer, Vocals Bradshaw Leigh Associate Engineer, Engineer Charles McCracken Cello Christopher Austopchuk Cover Design, Design Dave Brown Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar Dave Grusin Horn Arrangements, ?, String Arrangements, Horn, Strings David Nadien Concert Master Dominic Cortese Accordion Doug Stegmeyer Bass Eddie Daniels Saxophone, Clarinet, Wind Jim Boyer Engineer, Remixing John Berg Design, Cover Design Larry Franke Assistant Engineer Laura Loncteaux Production Assistant Liberty DeVitto Percussion, Piano (Electric), Drums Michael Christopher Assistant Engineer Paula Scher Art Coordinator, Coordination Phil Ramone Producer Rob Mounsey Synthesizer Russell Javors Guitar (Rhythm), Guitar (Electric), Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic) Ted Jensen Mastering, Remastering