Glass Houses is the seventh album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Billy Joel

Billy Joel

William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

, released in 1980 (see 1980 in music

1980 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1980.-January–March:*January 1**Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Elizabeth II.**The Zorros audition drummer Greg Pedley....

). It features Joel's first song to peak at #1 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me." The album itself topped the Pop Albums chart for six weeks and was ranked number 4 on Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

s 1980 year-end album chart. The album is the 41st best selling album of the 1980s, with sales of 7.1 million copies in the US alone.

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-storey window of his real-life waterfront glass house

Glass House

The Glass House or Johnson house, built in 1949 in New Canaan, Connecticut, was designed by Philip Johnson as his own residence and is a masterpiece in the use of glass. It was an important and influential project for Johnson and for modern architecture. The building is an essay in minimal...

 in Oyster Bay. On the back, Joel is shown looking through a jagged hole he supposedly made with the rock he threw.

Joel has been quoted as saying he recorded the album to throw a rock at his 'pop-crooner' image. Some reviewers, like Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...

, believe that the album was Joel's response to New Wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 and punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s 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, "[The album] 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."

This album was the third collaboration between Joel and producer Phil Ramone

Phil Ramone

Phil Ramone is a South-African violinist, composer, recording engineer, and record producer.-Biography:As a young child in South Africa, Ramone was a musical prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten...

, following The Stranger

The Stranger (album)

The Stranger is the fifth studio album by musician Billy Joel, released in 1977 . While his four previous albums had been moderate chart successes, this was his breakthrough album, and is generally regarded by critics as his magnum opus, spending six weeks at #2 in the U.S. album charts...

 and 52nd Street

52nd Street (album)

52nd Street is the sixth studio album by Billy Joel, released in 1978. It was also the first of many Joel albums to top the Billboard charts, along with his third and fourth Grammy win....

.

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Joel.
Side one

1. "You May Be Right
   You May Be Right (song)
   "You May Be Right" is a single written and performed by rock singer Billy Joel from his 1980 album Glass Houses. The song reached #7 on the US charts, but failed to chart in the UK unlike his preceding and succeeding singles "All for Leyna" and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"...
   
   " – 4:15
2. "Sometimes a Fantasy
   Sometimes a Fantasy
   "Sometimes a Fantasy" is a song by Billy Joel released as the last single from his album Glass Houses. The single peaked at #36 on the US Billboard Hot 100....
   
   " – 3:40
3. "Don't Ask Me Why
   Don't Ask Me Why (Billy Joel song)
   "Don't Ask Me Why" is a Billy Joel song released in 1980. The lyrics talk about the oddities of life that have become obvious over time. It is more characteristic of a track that would have appeared on Joel's earlier albums in that it has a lighter folk sound as compared to the harder, more rock...
   
   " – 2:59
4. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
   It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
   "It's Still Rock & Roll to Me" is a hit 1980 song performed by Billy Joel, from the hit album Glass Houses. The song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for two weeks, from July 19 through August 1, 1980...
   
   " – 2:57
5. "All for Leyna
   All for Leyna
   "All for Leyna" is a song by Billy Joel from the 1980 album Glass Houses. "All for Leyna" was released as a single in the United Kingdom, where it reached #40 on the charts....
   
   " – 4:15

Side two

6. "I Don't Want to Be Alone" – 3:57
7. "Sleeping With the Television On" – 3:02
8. "C'était Toi (You Were the One)" – 3:25
9. "Close to the Borderline" – 3:47
10. "Through the Long Night" – 2:43

Personnel

• Billy Joel – synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  , harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , accordion
  Accordion
  The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Dave Brown – acoustic guitar
  Steel-string acoustic guitar
  A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
  
  , electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Richie Cannata
  Richie Cannata
  Richie Cannata is an American music producer, multi-instrumentalist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in the Billy Joel band alongside Doug Stegmeyer and Liberty DeVitto. After leaving the band in 1981, he opened Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York...
  
   – organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  , flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  , saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  
• Liberty DeVitto
  Liberty DeVitto
  Liberty DeVitto is an American rock drummer. He is best known as the drummer for Billy Joel, but has also played with the NYC Hit Squad and has been a session drummer on recordings of other artists.-Career:...
  
   – percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  , drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Russell Javors – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Doug Stegmeyer
  Doug Stegmeyer
  Doug Stegmeyer was a musician best known as the bassist for Billy Joel.-Career:Doug Stegmeyer met Russell Javors in high school. At age 15, Javors was performing songs with childhood friend Liberty DeVitto. From then, the boys, along with Howard Emerson, formed the band Topper.Together they...
  
   – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  

Production

• Producers: Phil Ramone
• Engineer: Jim Boyer
• Assistant engineer: Bradshaw Leigh
• Mastering: Ted Jensen
• Photography: Jim Houghton

Grammy Awards

|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1981 || rowspan="2"| Glass Houses || Best Rock Vocal Performance - Male

Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance

The Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to male recording artists for works containing quality vocal performances in the rock music genre...

||
|-
| Album of the Year ||
|-

American Music Awards

|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1981

American Music Awards of 1981

The 8th Annual American Music Awards were held on January 30, 1981.-Pop/Rock Category:-Soul/R&B Category:-Country Category:...

 || Glass Houses || Favorite Pop/Rock Album||
|-
| Billy Joel (performer) || Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist ||
|-

Chart positions

Chart (1980)	Position
Australian Kent Music Report Chart Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...	2
Austrian Albums Chart	4
Canadian RPM Albums Chart RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...	1
Dutch Mega Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top...	20
French SNEP Albums Chart	21
Japanese Oricon LP Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...	6
New Zealand Albums Chart	6
Norwegian Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...  VG-lista VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...  Albums Chart	2
Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....	6
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	9
U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	1
West German Media Control Albums Chart	24

Certifications & Sales

Year-end charts

Chart (1980)	Position
Australian Albums Chart	2
Austrian Albums Chart	17
Canadian Albums Chart RPM Year-End RPM Year-End charts are a cumulative measure of a single or album's performance in Canada, based upon the RPM magazine charts during any given chart year.-RPM year-end number ones:...	2
Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...	21
UK Albums Chart	63
U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard Year-End Billboard Year-End charts are a cumulative measure of a single or album's performance in the United States, based upon the Billboard magazine charts during any given chart year. Billboard's "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November...	4