Well ten years later, we are treated to yet another remastering of "The Stranger," this time in celebration of the 30th (actually 31st) anniversary of the album. While for most fans who owned the original CD master, then graduated to the 1998 remaster, I'm sure folks would agree there should have been more added to the first CD. There are alternate takes out there, some which made their way onto the "My Lives" boxset. Would have been nice to pad out the full length of the cd with some bonus studio tracks.

The live CD is the gem of this re-release. Why has Sony sat on this recording all these years? A remarkable performance, in a location which is notorious for making decent quality recordings (e.g. Chicago IV.) This is almost as good as "Songs in The Attic," as you get many of those songs, only slightly rearranged for this earlier performance. I am hoping that with the success of this release Legacy will do for Billy what was done for Neil Diamond with his Stages cd set...a box set of live shows (more of the earlier ones that are still unreleased on cd). So far we've got concert releases from 1980, 1987, 1999, and 2005, it would be nice to have a 70s, early 80s which are complete concerts, with minimal exemptions. Why? Because Billy is one of the best performers I have ever seen... He shows his roots well in this show because at certain points in the show the Carnegie Hall technicians bring the house lights up because people are smoking, and each time that happens, Billy says "I'll play with these lights on if you don't mind!"