Thread by @aaronreynolds

Warning: the following thread contains both audiophile wankery AND Billy Joel

I generally like Billy Joel. There might be some Stockholm Syndrome involved, since Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Volumes I & II was the second compact disc I ever purchased and I got my money’s worth by listening to it a lot.

Don’t ask me why (ha ha) but my oldest, age 16, went on a Billy Joel kick for a while. He learned to play the Piano Man harmonica riff, that was his commitment level.

So anyways when the big audiophile hi-res digital Billy Joel Complete Albums Collection came out, I got it.

And it’s very good! First listen on the big stereo was a delight. Songs I knew inside and out revealed new secrets.

It also sounded very “new” — not in a bad way, but in a slightly unfamiliar way. Kind of like how the remixed Sgt Pepper and Dark Side of the Moon sounded.

I’m not a purist — I firmly believe that both Dark Side of the Moon and Sgt Pepper are better in their remixed form. Those new mixes are reverent, don’t do anything showy or new, just bypass the technological limitations of the original mixes.

So anyways, not only is there this fancy ass high res digital boxed set of Billy Joel’s discography, but Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs have done a relatively recent audiophile issue of most of Billy Joel’s albums. MFSL are a truly awesome reissue label.

So now I have to know: WHICH ONES ARE THE BEST ONES?

Yeah, I’m that guy

First listen: Piano Man. The Complete Albums version is great. The Mobile Fidelity version is also great and entirely different: less bass, but stunning clarity in the piano and mandolin, and a lot more mid tones. Basically it sounds like a spectacular presentation of a 1970s LP.

And, I mean, that’s what it is! MFSL did vinyl issues of the Joel albums they put out, so their master sounding vinyl-appropriate is… right.

Anyways, it was an inconclusive match-up. So I asked my 16 year old what his favourite Billy Joel song is.

He doesn’t even think about it.

“Zanzibar,” he says.

ZANZIBAR?! Fucking ZANZIBAR?!

“From 52nd Street,” he says.

All right, here comes fucking Zanzibar.

Zanzibar was like night and day. The MFSL version sounded great and also incredibly 1978 — that distinctive mud in the midrange. But exactly how I remember the record sounding.

The Complete Albums version sounds like it was recorded yesterday by the finest modern engineer.

So, my provisional recommendation is that if you are a purist you’ll want the MFSL ones, and if you’re the kind of nerd running a stand-alone digital to analog converter you’ll want Complete Albums (and those are the masters on streaming etc now).

Also I’ll temper that slightly: the MFSL Piano Man is legit great and the sound of the piano itself is superior. Just based on hearing Zanzibar, I’d probably be pissed if I paid $100 for the MFSL 52nd Street.

Anyways, I’ll be listening to Billy Joel for a while.