The aggression [on "Glass Houses"] is just too deliberately calculating; and aren't the scenarios—so vividly portrayed—just a little self-consciously conceived? When in doubt, Joel does seem overly intent on sending his verses into grubby bars and desperate crises of loneliness with interesting accessories like "brandy eyes" and "sweating bullets"….

I'm not sure I can believe Joel on "Glass Houses".

The album spends much of its time meditating on insecurity, and Joel is most effective when he freely parades his own frailties in this direction, via self-mockery. There's one glorious track, "I Don't Want To Be Alone", in which he sketches a reprobate character repeatedly wronging his partner and constantly being wracked with self-recrimination as a result. Its strength is the undercurrent of humour (the absurd vision he creates of the hero) which is his most potent weapon, yet one that's often deferred in preference to the...