The Stranger 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition

One of my favorite albums.

Excelente.

Okay, I have a 5.1 version of THE STRANGER and it is a wonder to behold. Music enlopes you from every pocket and if you are sitting in the middle of the "sweet spot" you'd think Billy was performing just for you. However, these reviews seem to mix up A - the live CD offered as part of THE STRANGER ANNIVERSARY REISSUE, B - a non 5.1 SACD version of THE STRANGER - so while I was ready to purchase, I have NO IDEA of what exactly I am buying. But I think AMAZON, the greatest store on earth - might need to hire a full-time staff to monitor the reviews. There are many different versions of classic CDS and MOVIES so the PRODUCT DETAIL needs to be very accurate and the reviews should only ocme from people who have bought that particular product. And not only are the wrong reviews from different version carried over, but people POST the wrong reviews as well, so this needs monitoring. If I knew for a fact this was the SACD 5.1 THE STRANGER I would buy it - but I need DETAILS!!!!!!!!!A FEW WEEKS LATER: I went and bought the STRANGER ANNIVERSARY SET and it's a keeper. Less than 20 bucks - you get a remastered STRANGER DISC (in 2 channel stereo) - that frankly, does not sound like the best incarnation of the CD, but it's ok - just not great. You get a great live CD that doesn't have a whole show, but enough of essential songs with string backgrounds to make it worth it - then a DVD with a MAKING OF THE STRANGER, some promo videos AND a one hour show from the 70s where he sings a GREAT SET? This is a no-brainer set. Just not the best version of THE STRANGER but non-audiophiles will probably not know the difference.UPDATE: 12.9.2013Okay, I have now bought the BILLY JOEL COLLECTION (a 2011 set offered by BillyJoel.com and here at Amazon - that has been remastered by Ted Jensen (he usually masters most of Billy's stuff.) BTW - I have not recieved that item yet - what I HAVE gotten is the NEW 2 - channel Ted Jensen remastered SACD that went on sale recently. I have now heard this so many times I'm probably a little punch-drunk, but - it sounds fantastic with all kinds of little details I didn't hear the first time around - in in some ways - this is better than the 5.1 SACD - mainly because on that 5.1 sacd they put a huge echo on Billy's main vocal that was annoying and this simply reminds me of a great version of the CD - all that said - it's a shame they didn't put the 5.1 on here as well as another option - but I have no idea how that works because I'm just glad I have both. But yes, if you have an SACD player, this is a wonderful new way to enjoy the record and hear all the details.

Perfect! Came just as described.

One of my favorite albums and it sounds so good!

Love it! Sounds great on Vinyl.

Anyone who already is familiar with this fine album needs no introduction, but I want to say that this version, especially the 5.1 mix of it, is simply fantastic.The producers really seemed to understand that a well executed surround version should approximate the live experience as much as possible, and they did that quite well.No more are you limited to simply left, right, or varying combinations of the two, as you now have not just two rear channels added to the audio, but a center and LFE as well.Anyone not already familiar with this stellar album should know that it is one of the very few rock albums out there with not a single bad cut, all A material."Always A Woman" is a beautiful song about the frustrations of love in a relationship that is not always perfect, the popular "Just The Way You Are" eloquently expresses every man's wish that the woman he loves will not get the itch to change, and my favorite "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," is a real sonic showpiece that fully exploits the 5.1 surround while telling a great story of a couple living life lived too fast, resulting in inevitable disaster.My only complaint, if you want to call it that, is that this is a first generation SACD, NOT a hybrid SACD, which allows you to play the redbook CD version in your car stereo using the same high resolution disk as you can use in your home 5.1 system.That was not even part of the equation with this to me, as I already had the remastered standard CD of this album.Again, thanks to Amazon for their consistently speedy service.

This is a great album, and the remaster is excellent. Unfortunately either the packaging or a combination of packaging and pressing ruin it. Although I saw some review saying the album was in an anti-static wrapping, that is not the case. It is in a cardboard sleeve with lyrics etc. You could visibly see pieces of white cardboard when taking it out of the sleeve. A dry record brush could not remove all of the residue, and a brush with liquid cleaner took 4 passes before it finally stopped showing more cardboard dust. But then playing it was still full of static, pops and clicks. A big disappointment for a brand new record.