Glass Houses (album)

Glass Houses
Studio album by Billy Joel
Released March 12, 1980
Recorded 1979 at A&R Recording, New York City
Genre
Length 35:06
Label Family Productions/Columbia
Producer Phil Ramone
Billy Joel chronology
52nd Street
(1978)52nd Street1978		 Glass Houses
(1980)		 Songs in the Attic
(1981)Songs in the Attic1981
Back cover (some versions)
On the LP and some CD releases, Joel is shown looking through a hole after throwing a rock in the glass house. This is also seen on the front cover of some of the single releases from this album.
Singles from Glass Houses
  1. "All for Leyna"
    Released: January 1980
  2. "You May Be Right"
    Released: March 1980
  3. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"
    Released: May 1980
  4. "Don't Ask Me Why"
    Released: July 1980
  5. "Sometimes a Fantasy"
    Released: 1980

Glass Houses is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on March 10, 1980. It features Joel's first song to peak at  No.  1 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me". The album itself topped the Pop Albums chart for six weeks and was ranked  No.  4 on Billboard's 1980 year-end album chart.[2] The album is the 41st best selling album of the 1980s, with sales of 7.1 million copies in the U.S. alone. In 1981, Joel won a Grammy Award for "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" for his work on Glass Houses.[3] According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the album featured "a harder-edged sound" compared to Joel's other work, in response to the punk and new wave movements.[4]

Background

This album was the third collaboration between Joel and producer Phil Ramone, following The Stranger and 52nd Street.

Opening with the sound of glass shattering, Glass Houses has more of a hard rock feel than Joel's previous albums. The cover shows Joel poised to throw a rock through the two-story window of his real-life waterfront glass house in Cove Neck. On some versions, the back cover shows Joel looking through the hole that the rock made in the glass. This alludes to the adage that "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".

In 2004, the pop-culture journalist and rock critic Chuck Klosterman praised the album in an essay on Joel titled "Every Dog Must Have His Every Day, Every Drunk Must Have His Drink" from his book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs (the title of the essay refers to a line from the Glass Houses song "Don't Ask Me Why").[5] In particular, Klosterman praised some of the more obscure tracks from the album including "All for Leyna", "I Don't Want to Be Alone", "Sleeping with the Television On" and "Close to the Borderline."[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
Smash Hits8/10[8]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote retrospectively: "It may not be punk — then again, it may be his concept of punk — but Glass Houses is the closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album."[6] Rolling Stone critic Paul Nelson stated: "Billy Joel writes smooth and cunning melodies, and what many of his defenders say is true: his material's catchy. But then, so's the flu."[7]

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Joel.

Side one

  1. "You May Be Right" – 4:15
  2. "Sometimes a Fantasy" – 3:40
  3. "Don't Ask Me Why" – 2:59
  4. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" – 2:57
  5. "All for Leyna" – 4:15

Side two

  1. "I Don't Want to Be Alone" – 3:57
  2. "Sleeping with the Television On" – 3:02
  3. "C'était Toi (You Were the One)" – 3:25
  4. "Close to the Borderline" – 3:47
  5. "Through the Long Night" – 2:43

Personnel

Musicians

Production

  • Phil Ramone – producer
  • Jim Boyer – engineer
  • Bradshaw Leigh – assistant engineer
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Brian Ruggles – technician
  • Steve Cohen – lighting
  • Jim Houghton – photography
  • Michele Slagter – production assistant
  • Jeff Schock – product management

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
1981Glass HousesBest Rock Vocal Performance - Male[3]Won
Album of the Year[9]Nominated

American Music Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
1981Glass HousesFavorite Pop/Rock Album[10]Won
Billy Joel (performer)Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist[10]Nominated

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[36] 5× Platinum 350,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[37] 5× Platinum 500,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[38] Gold 7,500*
Japan (Oricon Charts) 317,000[39]
United Kingdom (BPI)[40] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[41] 7× Platinum 7,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave?: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. p. 40. ISBN 0472034707.
  2. 1 2 "Billboard.com - Year End Charts - Year-end Albums - The Billboard 200". billboard.com. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  3. 1 2 "Past Winners Search". grammy.com. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  4. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Billy Joel". Allmusic. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Klosterman, Chuck. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs Scribner, 2004.
  6. 1 2 Thomas, Stephen. "Glass Houses - Billy Joel". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  7. 1 2 "Billy Joel: Glass Houses: Music Reviews: Rolling Stone". 2008-02-28. Archived from the original on 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  8. ↑ Cranna, Ian. "Billy Joel: Glass Houses". Smash Hits (April 3–16, 1980): 31.
  9. ↑ "GRAMMYs' Best Albums 1980–1989". grammy.org. Archived from the original on 2011-08-30. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  10. 1 2 "8th American Music Awards". Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  11. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ↑ "austriancharts.at Billy Joel - Glass Houses". Hung Medien (in German). Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  13. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2011-11-01
  14. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Billy Joel - Glass Houses". Hung Medien, dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  15. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  16. ↑ "Tonlist Top 40". DV. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  17. ↑ a-ビリー・ジョエル "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Albums Chart Daijiten - Billy Joel" Check |url= value (help) (in Japanese). 2007-12-30. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  18. ↑ "charts.org.nz - Billy Joel - Glass Houses". Hung Medien, charts.org.nz. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  19. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Billy Joel - Glass Houses". Hung Medien, norwegiancharts.com. VG-lista. Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  20. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  21. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Billy Joel - Glass Houses". Hung Medien, swedishcharts.com (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  22. ↑ "Billy Joel - Glass Houses - hitparade.ch". Archived from the original on 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  23. ↑ "Chart Stats - Billy Joel - Glass Houses". UK Albums Chart. Archived from the original on 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  24. ↑ "allmusic ((( Glass Houses > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  25. ↑ "Album Search: Billy Joel" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  26. ↑
    • Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: albums chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
  27. ↑ "Austriancharts.st - Jahreshitparade 1980" (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 2010-11-09. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  28. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1980". RPM. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  29. ↑ "Les Albums (CD) de 1980 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  30. ↑ 1980年アルバム年間ヒットチャート "Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1980" Check |url= value (help) (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  31. ↑ "The Top 50 Albums of 1980". Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  32. ↑ "The Top 20 Albums of Vår 1980". Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  33. ↑ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  34. ↑ "Top 100 Albums of 1981". RPM. 26 December 1981. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  35. ↑ "Top Pop Albums of 1981". billboard.biz. 1981-12-31. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  36. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1980 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  37. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Billy Joel – Glass Houses". Music Canada.
  38. ↑ "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1983". IFPI Hong Kong.
  39. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  40. ↑ "British album certifications – Billy Joel – Glass Houses". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Glass Houses in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  41. ↑ "American album certifications – Billy Joel – Glass Houses". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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