What is the name of Billy Joel’s 1980 album that includes “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”? Glass Houses. Released on March 12, 1980, Glass Houses was Billy Joel’s seventh studio album and marked a harder-edged turn in his sound. Its opening begins with the sound of breaking glass, matching the album’s title and its confrontational cover image.
The record was partly Joel’s response to critics who viewed him primarily as a mellow balladeer. Its rock and new-wave influences can be heard across songs including “You May Be Right,” “Don’t Ask Me Why,” and “Sometimes a Fantasy.” “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” directly addresses changing musical fashions and argues that new trends often recycle older rock ideas.
The song became Joel’s first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single. Glass Houses topped the Billboard 200 for six consecutive weeks and later won Joel a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male. It is sometimes confused with The Stranger or 52nd Street, the two albums immediately surrounding it in his discography.