The Music Canon · No. 125 of 250Methodology
The Stranger cover

The Stranger (1977)

0.2861Canon Score · ranked #125 all time

Aggregated from 4 of 9 authoritative lists, weighted by authority and adjusted for each list's scope and age. How scoring works →

About the album

The Stranger is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on September 29, 1977, by Columbia Records. It was the first of Joel's albums to be produced by Phil Ramone, with whom he would work for five subsequent albums. Joel's previous album, Turnstiles (1976), had sold modestly, and peaked at only #122 on the US Billboard 200 charts, prompting Columbia to consider dropping him if his n

Why it ranks #125

Every list on which The Stranger appears, with its position as published.

ListAuthorityPosition
Rolling Stone 500 (2003 edition)Editorial list#70 / 500
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums (2020)Major international poll#169 / 500
1001 Albums You Must Hear (union)Critics' canonSelected
TIME All-TIME 100 Albums (2006)Editorial listSelected