[Innocent Nostalgia] -- Fans who were used to Joel throwing stones at Glass Houses (1980) or pulling back The Nylon Curtain (1982) were in two camps when his ninth studio album, An Innocent Man, hit record store shelves. They either thought he had taken a step backward, or that he was letting loose and having some fun. Both camps might have been correct, but for different reasons.
Released 40 years ago this week – on August 8, 1983 – An Innocent Man was a tour through the musical styles of Joel's own youth, a celebration of the genres he had discovered while listening to the radio. Rolling Stone called An Innocent Man "an affectionate, spirited paean to an undefiled past that’s truly forever" (Parke Puterbaugh, August 18, 1983). In his retro-review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes that Joel was so exhausted after The Nylon Curtain, and disappointed in its lack of commercial success, that he simply wanted to take a break and record an album for fun.
Like the two fan camps, both Erlewine and Puterbaugh could be correct about Joel's intentions regarding this week's Flashback. Not that any of it mattered to me. Back in 1983, I did not know anything about Joel's exhaustion or his desire to pay homage to his favorite musical styles. What I did know was that I had been a fan of Joel since I discovered Turnstiles (1976) in my father's record collection, and so I went out and got this latest record. I also know, or remember, two other things about this record.
For one, An Innocent Man seemed much more vocally oriented than the last few efforts. As I was a member of my high school's chorus, I found this album's songs to be wonderful vocal exercises, and several of my classmates agreed with me. In fact, my second recollection was just how many chorus people also liked this album once they heard it, even those who tended to avoid popular music (yeah, they were around back then, too). I also recall carrying around a shoebox style cassette player/recorder with which I shared An Innocent Man and other cassettes while attending District Two Chorus.
Anyway.
An Innocent Man peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200. And it yielded three top ten singles: "Tell Her About It" (#1), "Uptown Girl" (#3), and "An Innocent Man" (#10). "Uptown Girl," and the album itself, received a Grammy nomination. Joel also received two American Music Award nominations for his work on this album. In listening to An Innocent Man for this week's post, I've concluded that "The Longest Time" and "Leave A Tender Moment Alone" are my favorite tracks. Were they my favorites back in 1983? I suspect I had a great fondness for the title track as well as those two songs, but other than that, I'm not sure what to say about my favorites back then. So, I'll claim that my opinion remains unchanged, and no one can prove otherwise.
Flashback: "An Innocent Man (August 8, 1983)
And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
I'll see you in seven!
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