An Innocent Man＜完全生産限定盤＞

アメリカンポップ黄金時代を再現したかのような ビリー・ジョエル 1983年の大ヒット作『An Innocent Man』(イノセント・マン)を最新リマスター音源でアナログ盤発売

1983年作品。全米最高位4位を記録した通算9枚目のアルバム。今作には、全米NO.1を獲得した「あの娘にアタック」を始め、「イノセント・マン」(10位)「ロンゲスト・タイム」(14位)「アップタウン・ガール」(3位)「夜空のモーメント」(27位)「キーピン・ザ・フェイス」(18位)と6曲の大ヒット・シングルが収められ、前作のセールス面での落ち込みを補ってあまりあるヒットとなった。これらの曲は、ビリーが十代だった5～60年代のオールディーズやモータウンやポップスのエッセンスを取り込み、アメリカのポピュラー・ミュージック黄金時代を再現したかのようなムードを醸し出している。ラルフ・マクドナルド、リチャード・ティー、エリック・ゲイル、ジョン・ファディス、デヴィッド・サンボーン、マイケル・ブレッカー、トゥーツ・シールマンなど豪華ゲスト陣が素晴らしい演奏でバックを支えてる。2023年最新リマスター音源でアナログ盤発売。

Recording The Nylon Curtain exhausted Billy Joel, and even though it had a pair of major hits, it didn't rival its predecessors in terms of sales. Since he labored so hard at the record, he decided it was time for a break -- it was time to record an album just for fun. And that's how his homage to pre-Beatles pop, An Innocent Man, was conceived: it was designed as a breezy romp through the music of his childhood. Joel's grasp on history isn't remarkably astute -- the opener "Easy Money" is a slice of Stax/Volt pop-soul, via the Blues Brothers (quite possibly the inspiration for the album), and the label didn't break the pop charts until well after the British Invasion -- but he's in top form as a craftsman throughout the record. Only once does he stumble on his own ambition ("This Night," which appropriates its chorus from Beethoven). For the rest of the record, he's effortlessly spinning out infectious, memorable melodies in a variety of styles, from the Four Seasons send-up "Uptown Girl" and the soulful "Tell Her About It" to a pair of doo wop tributes, "The Longest Time" and "Careless Talk." Joel has rarely sounded so carefree either in performance or writing, possibly due to "Christie Lee" Brinkley, a supermodel who became his new love prior to An Innocent Man. He can't stop writing about her throughout the album -- only three songs, including the haunted title track, aren't about her in some form or fashion. That giddiness is infectious, helping make An Innocent Man an innocent delight that unwittingly closes Joel's classic period. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine