Bagging on Billy Joel used to be a fun sport and I practiced it as much as the next guy in the 1970s. All these years later I still don't understand the appeal of the music or the persona.
Legacy, the catalog division of Sony, differs in their opinion, believing you can never have enough of "The Stranger," the album that instantly put "Just the Way You Are" into the wedding band canon 30 years ago and made us jokesters wonder if "she" is not "always a woman," what gender is she. Album sold more than 10 million copies, but only reached No. 2 on the album chart.
There will be two packages of "The Stranger - 30th Anniversary" released on July 8. One is two CDs; the also includes a DVD of Joel's appearances on the U.K.'s "Old Grey Whistle Test" and a 48-page booklet.
Both editions will include a CD of a previously unreleased concert featuring Joel and his band at Carnegie Hall on June 3, 1977. Bonus package includes a DVD with two live promotional videos from "The Stranger" and his 60 minute 1978 appearance on the BBC2's "Old Grey Whistle Test."
Set list from the Carnegie Hall show:
Intro /  Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)
/ Prelude>Angry Young Man / New York State Of Mind / Just The Way You Are / She's Got A Way / The Entertainer / Scenes From An Italian Restaurant / Captain Jack / I've Loved These Days / Say Goodbye To Hollywood / Souvenir
A decade later, Joel was the first American allowed to perform in Russia. At Olympic Stadium in Moscow on July 27, 1987, he performed:
Prelude>Angry Young Man / Honesty / The Ballad Of Billy The Kid / She's Always A Woman /  Scenes From An Italian Restaurant / Allentown / Goodnight Saigon / Stiletto / Big Man On Mulberry Street / Baby Grand / An Innocent Man / The Longest Time