Freeloaders Exclusive: Billy Joel “The Vinyl Collection”

Vinyl Collection, Vol 1

The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1, an 8 album (9-LP) boxset that includes Joel’s albums from the 1970s (Cold Spring Harbor, Piano Man, Streetlife Serenade, Turnstiles, The Stranger, 52nd Street) along with Songs in the Attic, a live album released in 1981. Also included is a previously unreleased live album, Live at The Great American Music Hall, which is only available in the boxset. The boxset includes a 50+ page booklet that highlights Joel’s early career through photos, quotes, and an essay. This project is a wonderful opportunity to remind core fans about Joel’s discography while capturing a new, younger audience, digitally. Recently Joel’s influence on Gen Z has been showcased through TikTok trend for “Zanzibar,” name-checked in Olivia Rodrigo’s smash “deja vu” lyrics I’ll bet that she knows Billy Joel / ‘Cause you played her Uptown Girl (co-writer and producer Dan Nigro wrote the line and is the Billy Joel fan) and sited as an influence for

Vinyl Collection, Vol 2

The Vinyl Collection, Vol.2 Brings together Billy’s monumentally successful 1980s albums — Glass Houses (1980), The Nylon Curtain (1982), An Innocent Man (1983), The Bridge (1986) Storm Front (1989) River of Dreams (1993) and for the first time on vinyl, an exclusive 2LP pressing of 2001’s Fantasies & Delusions, an instrumental album showcasing classical piano compositions by Billy Joel, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Classical Album chart and the first ever audio edition of Live from Long Island. All titles in The Vinyl Collection, Vol.2 have been sourced from the original album masters (analog and digital) and carefully prepared for this release by Ted Jensen with lacquers cut by Joe Nino Hernes at the legendary Sterling Sound in Nashville, Tennessee. The box set includes a 60+ page booklet featuring Billy’s revelatory personal observations and insights about each album, an informative essay by Rob Tannenbaum, rare photos and memorabilia from the era and more.