“The Nylon Curtain”, Billy Joel, 1982

Yes, I am doing a Billy Joel album. Yes, I realize he has a few that may be a bit more obscure than this. None, however, have had the same amount of anger and hostility that runs through this album. They were feelings I didn’t understand as a child, but as I got older and understood what they were, I came to realize…

This is one angry, spiteful album, with only moments of brevity and calmness. Coming from Billy Joel, that’s a surprising thing to try and take in.

The details of Joel’s life and career are so well known that a basic rundown of who he is and what he’s accomplished isn’t even needed. Some love him, some hate him, and some don’t care. While that may be true of most artists, in this case it tends to be a bit more extreme.

Even I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan. This album is actually the only one I own. Why, you may ask? Because it does not have the sound or feel of a Billy Joel album. This, folks, is the album The Beatles never made.

Yup, you read that right. The overall sound of this album has a very strong Beatles undercurrent to it. This was due to Joel’s decision to spend more time in the studio than he had ever done before, working on the sound and textures of the album as a whole.

He was also writing songs that were considered to be more topical at the time than he had been before, such as “Allentown”, which brought focus onto the issues facing steelworkers in the early 80’s. This, along with “Pressure” and “Goodnight Saigon”, were all released as singles. “Pressure” especially brought forth the underlying anger throughout the album, while “Goodnight Saigon” was a tribute to the veterans of Vietnam.

Now, as a result of these 3 songs being on the first half of the album, the second half tends to be overshadowed a bit, which is a bit of a shame since there are some tracks that are quite good, the highlight being “Scandinavian Skies”. This track, musically and vocally, bear much resemblance to “Strawberry Fields Forever’; the looping strings, vocals slowed down to sound hazy, and the seemingly different musical sections combined into one, all stitched together.

The real highlight of the entire album, though, occurs (once again) in the first half, with the song “Laura”. This is one angry, bitter song, one which we never would’ve expected from Joel. It’s been explained as not being about anyone specific, but about having that one person in life that knows just how to hurt you as bad as you can be hurt (side note: considering he was going through his divorce at the time of recording the album, I don’t know how much I believe that explanation….but I digress). Musically, this song is pure John Lennon, especially his solo years, with a George Harrison-style guitar solo. Even lyrically, the amount of anger and venom could be compared to Lennon’s early solo albums. Joel even throws in the word f@#k, which he’s never done before or since, just to get that anger across.

All of this combined makes “The Nylon Curtain” possibly the only Billy Joel album that people who aren’t big fans of Billy Joel would want to own. I would know; like I said, it’s the only one I own.

by Joe Jamnitzky