"There's only one rule," Neil Diamond announces, in that diamond-hard, late Neil Diamond voice of his, that croak you could sharpen knives against.
"There are no rules," he continued.
Crowd goes nuts.
"Except that I follow the noise."
Crowd goes nutser. Especially my side, stage left, so Neil Diamond smiles big and heads toward us, much to the chagrin of the people sitting center stage, or stage right, or stage-band's-asses, who all redoubled their appreciation. Suddenly, I understood.
It's time to rank the best of what went around and came around again.
BILLY JOEL
The Stranger
(Columbia/Legacy)
As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man's deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell - and, occasionally, rock. "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and "Anthony's Song (Movin' Out)" remain priceless snapshots of Annie Hall-era NYC, the title track bares real teeth, and the Kenny Chesney fave "Only the Good Die Young" -
