Billy Joel
Album: The Stranger: 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Columbia)
In stores: July 8
Why we care: Has it really been 30 years since we first waved Brenda and Eddie goodbye? Oy, I can totally feel my back going out on me. Somebody pass the Doan's. The Piano Man's '78 masterpiece, produced by my new best friend Phil Ramone (READ), gets the triple-disc treatment, with the remastered album plus a '77 show from Carnegie Hall and a DVD of rare footage — all in a slick collector's case. There's a very good chance I've listened to this album more than any other. Key to my happiness? Maybe, just maybe.
Why we like it: When those ominous piano pounds kick in at the 2:49 mark on Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, signaling an epic shift in storytelling, it's downright impossible not to get in on the dorky group sing.
Reminds us of: "They started to fight when the money got tight / And they just didn't count on the tears..."
Download these: Only the Good Die Young, Vienna -- oh hell, just download the whole damn thing.
Grade: A

Billy Joels "The Stranger"...