The Nylon Curtain

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The Nylon Curtain
Studio album by Billy Joel
Released September 23, 1982
Recorded Spring, 1982, A & R Recording and Media Sound Studios, New York, NY
Genre Rock
Length 41:57
Label Family Productions/Columbia
Producer Phil Ramone
Billy Joel chronology
Songs in the Attic
(1981)		 The Nylon Curtain
(1982)		 An Innocent Man
(1983)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars [1]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars [2]

The Nylon Curtain is the eighth studio album by Billy Joel. It was released by Columbia Records on September 23, 1982 and produced by Phil Ramone.

The Nylon Curtain peaked at number seven in the Billboard album charts, with two million sales in the United States alone. It was one of the first albums to be digitally recorded, mixed, and mastered.

Contents

[edit] Background

The album is among Joel's most ambitious albums, and Joel has openly acknowledged that it's one of his personal favorites, calling it "the recording I'm most proud of and the material I'm most proud of."[3] When he recorded the album, he said in an interview that he wanted to "create a sonic masterpiece." So he spent more time in the studio, crafting the sound of the album, than he had on any previous album. [4]He said that the process of making the album was "exhausting."[5] Critics have interpreted the album to be, in part, an homage to the music of The Beatles and John Lennon.[6]

Regarding the album's themes, Joel has stated "It was during the Reagan years, and the diminishing horizons in America at the time [meant that] all of a sudden you weren't going to be able to inherit [the kind of life] your old man had."[7] This pessimism about the American dream, in Joel's view, permeates most of the songs on the album.

The song "Allentown", which brought attention to the plight of America's declining steel industry, spent an unprecedented six weeks at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1983. It was one of the most played radio songs of the early 1980s, along with another Top 20 hit "Pressure".[citation needed]

Pop-culture journalist Chuck Klosterman praised songs from the album, specifically "Laura" and "Where's the Orchestra?," in his book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and composed by Billy Joel.

[edit] Side one

  1. "Allentown" – 3:50
  2. "Laura" – 5:02
  3. "Pressure" – 4:38
  4. "Goodnight Saigon" – 6:58

[edit] Side two

  1. "She's Right on Time" – 4:11
  2. "A Room of Our Own" – 4:00
  3. "Surprises" – 3:28
  4. "Scandinavian Skies" – 5:59
  5. "Where's the Orchestra?" – 3:16

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Accolades

[edit] Grammy Awards

Year Nominated work Award Result
1983 The Nylon Curtain Album of the Year[8] Nominated

[edit] Charts

[edit] Peak positions

Chart(s) Position
Dutch MegaAlbums Chart[9] 1
Japanese Oricon LP Chart[10] 2
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[11] 4
United States Billboard 200[12] 7
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[13] 9
New Zealand Albums Chart [14] 10
Austrian Albums Chart[15] 20
UK Albums Chart [16] 27
Swedish Albums Chart[17] 31
German Media Control Albums Chart [18] 34

[edit] Year-end charts

Chart (1982) Position
Japanese Albums Chart[19] 48
Australian Albums Chart[11] 49
Chart (1983) Position
U.S. Billboard Year-end[20] 33
Japanese Albums Chart[21] 58

[edit] Certifications and sales

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[22] Platinum 100,000^
Japan (Oricon Charts) 356,000[23][10]
Netherlands (NVPI)[24] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[25] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r10434
  2. ^ Holden, Stephen (1982-10-14), "Music Reviews : The Nylon Curtain by Billy Joel", Rolling Stone, archived from the original on 2011-08-17, http://web.archive.org/web/20090220202243/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/billyjoel/albums/album/223020/review/5942738/the_nylon_curtain 
  3. ^ Billy Joel Interview on Nylon Curtain[1]
  4. ^ Billy Joel Interview on Nylon Curtain[2]
  5. ^ Billy Joel Interview on Nylon Curtain[3]
  6. ^ Nylon Curtain Album Review[4]
  7. ^ Billy Joel Interview on Nylon Curtain[5]
  8. ^ "Rock On The Net: 25th Annual Grammy Awards - 1987". http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1983/grammys.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  9. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain". dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Billy+Joel&titel=The+Nylon+Curtain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
  10. ^ a b a-ビリー・ジョエル "Yamachan Land (Japanese Chart Archives) - Albums Chart Daijiten - Simon and Garfunkel" (in Japanese). Original Confidence. 2007-12-30. http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_billyjoel.html a-ビリー・ジョエル. Retrieved 2011-08-17. 
  11. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0646119176. 
  12. ^ Allmusic - The Nylon Curtain > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  13. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain". http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Billy+Joel&titel=The+Nylon+Curtain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
  14. ^ "charts.org.nz - Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Billy+Joel&titel=The+Nylon+Curtain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  15. ^ "Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain - austriancharts.at". http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Billy+Joel&titel=The+Nylon+Curtain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
  16. ^ "Chart Stats - Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain". UK Albums Chart. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=37550. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
  17. ^ "swedishcharts.com Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain". Sverigetopplistan. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Billy+Joel&titel=The+Nylon+Curtain&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
  18. ^ "Album Search: Billy Joel" (in German). Media Control. http://www.charts.de/search.asp?search=billy+joel&x=0&y=0&cat=a&country=de. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  19. ^ 1982年アルバム年間ヒットチャート "Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1982" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://entamedata.web.fc2.com/music/music_a1982.html 1982年アルバム年間ヒットチャート. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
  20. ^ "The Billboard 200 - Year-end: 1983". http://www.n-f-l.jp/1983%20album.html. Retrieved 2011-08-06. 
  21. ^ "日本で売れた洋楽アルバムトップ10 (Top-ten international albums on the Japanese Oricon Year-End Charts 1987". Archived from the original on June 5, 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20070917070638/http://www2.wbs.ne.jp/~ms-db/oricon/oricon%2083.htm. Retrieved June 4, 2008. 
  22. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Billy Joel – The Nylon Curtain". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=The+Nylon+Curtain&sa=Billy+Joel&smt=0. 
  23. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4871310779. 
  24. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Billy Joel – The Nylon Curtain" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. http://www.ifpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=60463. 
  25. ^ "American album certifications – Billy Joel – The Nylon Curtain". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22The+Nylon+Curtain%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Preceded by
De openbaring by Freek de Jonge		 Dutch Mega Chart number-one album
January 29 - February 12, 1982		 Succeeded by
The Kids from "Fame" by The Kids from "Fame"
Billy Joel
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