Billy Joel – An Innocent Man (1983) [MFSL 2013] {SACD ISO + FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz}

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.

Tracklist:
01. Easy Money
02. An Innocent Man
03. The Longest Time
04. This Night
05. Tell Her About It
06. Uptown Girl
07. Careless Talk
08. Christie Lee
09. Leave A Tender Moment Alone
10. Keeping The Faith

Mastered by Rob LoVerde at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, Sebastopol, CA.

SACD ISO

BillyJ0elAnInn0centMan1983MFSL2013SACDIS0.part1.rar
BillyJ0elAnInn0centMan1983MFSL2013SACDIS0.part2.rar

FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz

BillyJ0elAnInn0centMan1983MFSL2013FLAC2488.2.rar