Billy Joel’s Glass Houses released

First posted 3/6/2011; updated 9/22/2020.

Glass Houses Billy Joel

Released: March 12, 1980 Peak: 16 US, 9 UK, 17 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 7.0 US, 0.1 UK, 11.2 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop/rock singer-songwriter

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. You May Be Right (3/15/80, 7 US, 2 CL, 48 AC, 6 CN, 28 AU, gold single) Sometimes a Fantasy (10/11/80, 36 US, 12 CL, 21 CN) Don’t Ask Me Why (8/2/80, 36 US, 8 CL, 1 AC, 4 CN) It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me (5/13/80, 1 US, 1 CL, 45 AC, 14 UK, 1 CN, 10 AU, 2x platinum single) All for Leyna (4/12/80, 17 CL, 40 UK) I Don’t Want to Be Alone Sleeping with the Television On C’Etait Toi (You Were the One) Close to the Borderline (25 CL) Through the Long Night Total Running Time: 35:06

Rating: 3.653 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings) Quotable: “The closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Awards:

About the Album: “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.” STE “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]).” STE “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” STE and “the snarl of the motorcycle-ridingt You May Be Right” DB “have bold, direct melodies and clean arrangements, ideal for radio play.” STE “Plenty of panicked mainstream rock stars were trying to ‘go New Wave’ at the time. Thanks to his innate brattiness and gift for stylistic wandering, Joel was able to pull it off better than just about anyone.” DB With a sound that “ironically is closer to new wave pop than rock,” STEJoel showed on the “Cars-imitating It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” DB that it “came naturally to him.” DB “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… [that is] the closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album.” STE

Resources and Related Links: Billy Joel’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry DB David Browne (6/07). Blender magazine. Pages 114-5. STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide