It's Still Rock and Roll To Me

Just ordered the newly remastered 52nd Street by Billy Joel. Yes, I know that the album was released in 1978 and many people think that Joel's a dork, but I love this artist's 70s catalogue. He needed some fine tuning with the piano man album (though the title cut was awesome) but had some killer cuts on the first couple of albums. Turnstiles from 76 was getting better. His move to New York in the middle of the decade helped him develop the Brooklynite urban-piano answer to Springsteen's powerhouse: Joel's epic seven-minute Scenes From An Italian Restaurant even resembled the sprawling West Side Story-esque Jungleland From Born To Run. While Joel has never fully received his due, he is a phenomenal musician, a great songwriter, and an incredible talent that was at least rewarded with album sales that made him the successor to Elton John as that artist went from totally awesome to total schlock. I don't think that 52nd St. is as focused as its predecessor The Stranger, but the punk-like rock stylings make for a very catchy listen. What I really like about the new remastered Joel catalogue are the video excerpts when played on a computer.
Off to grade more papers. Was I the only one that heard President Bush claim that "all stories that the United States is planning to attack Iran are ridiculous, but all options are on the table" today? C'mon; if I were Syria or Iran, I'd be getting ready to have new sets of decks of cards with photographs of my leaders printed on them. Just wait; 05 is young, Europe wants Iran bumped, Arafat is dead, and North Korea needs another example. Just wait...