Background
Opening with the sound of glass shattering, Glass Houses has more of a hard rock feel than Joel's previous albums. The cover shows Joel poised to throw a rock through the two-story window of his real-life waterfront glass house in Oyster Bay. This alludes to the adage that "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."
Some reviewers, like Stephen Thomas Erlewine, believe that the album was Joel's response to New Wave and punk rock (Joel does reference both New Wave and punk rock in the lyrics of the song "It's Still Rock & Roll To Me"). Erlewine concludes, " may not be punk -- then again, it may be his concept of punk -- but Glass Houses is the closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album." In 2004, the pop-culture journalist and rock critic Chuck Klosterman praised the album in an essay on Joel titled "Every Dog Must Have His Every Day, Every Drunk Must Have His Drink" from his book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. In particular, Klosterman praised some of the more obscure tracks from the album including "All for Leyna," "I Don't Want to Be Alone Anymore," "Sleeping with the Television On," and "Close to The Borderline."
This album was the third collaboration between Joel and producer Phil Ramone, following The Stranger and 52nd Street.
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—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
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