In 2008, Legacy Recordings celebrated the 30th Anniversary of Billy Joel's breakout album "The Stranger" with this special edition 180g vinyl LP. The best-selling multi-platinum album catapulted Joel into the upper ranks of pop music superstardom.

Originally released in September 1977, Billy Joel's fifth studio album, The Stranger, marked the first of Joel's highly successful collaborations with producer Phil Ramone, whose mastery of the recording studio provided a sublime sonic context for Joel's timeless songs and classic performances. "I was very happy that we chose Phil Ramone," said Billy Joel in an interview for the 30th Anniversary edition. "He got it right away."

The resulting collection became one of the top-selling albums of the year (peaking at #2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart); won two Grammys (Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Just the Way Your Are"); overtook Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water as Columbia Records Top Selling Album of the time, and generated four indelible singles ' "Just the Way You Are", "Only the Good Die Young", "She's Always A Woman", and "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)".

Billy Joel's first Top 10 album, The Stranger is still the iconic performer's best-selling non-compilation album ever. Ranked #169 on Rolling Stone's prestigious "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, The Stranger has earned the coveted RIAA Diamond certification!