Better than you may remember, mostly for the lyrics and the enthusiasm in the vocals. “Famous Last Words,” River of Dreams“These are the last words I have to say”: Joel’s last song on his final studio album, apart from some one-off releases. The synths sound terrible now, and the petulance is creeping in, which does him no favors. Billy Joel’s first record, Cold Spring Harbor, was released through Family Production before his second discovery by Columbia Records. “The River of Dreams,” River of Dreams The almost-title song of the album (why add a “The”?). An extremely commercial song of the ’80s, recorded as a movie theme. Every Billy Joel Album Ranked Worst To Best. Too many songs have a chin-jutting defiance, an insistence that I Am an Artist to Be Taken Seriously, as subtext. 2. Comes from a good place — Long Island fishermen do indeed have it tough; he probably knows some of those guys, going way back; the whole scene feels honest — but the synths and production have aged terribly. 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The song appeared on the 1976 Turnstiles album, and although it was never released as a single, it still became a firm favourite with his fans. “No Man’s Land,” River of DreamsA guy watches the suburbs rise around him, hates them, but stays there all the same, hating himself. 112. 13 Top 10 Hit; 42 Songs; The River Of Dreams. “Ain’t No Crime,” Piano Man Elton-ish record with a lot of backing vocals. “House of Blue Light,” B-side, 1990.The flip side of the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” single is bar-band blues, not much more. “Getting Closer,” The Bridge        Repetitive and plodding. Billy Joel’s songs, ranked: ‘Piano Man,’ ‘New York State of Mind,’ more Billy Joel in concert at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale on Dec. 21, 1989. Credit: Newsday / John Keating 84. Just The Way You Are. 44. 26. You gotta stop somewhere. First verse is the best. 69. as my colleague Jody Rosen has persuasively written, “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway),”, Behold Leslie Knope’s Awful Version of ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’. • He’s best when writing about his own time and his own world. The unintentionally hilarious video may be affecting my judgment a little here. 35. “Keeping the Faith,” An Innocent Man A friendly, bright song about his teenhood. “Stop in Nevada,” Piano ManWhy is a guy from Long Island writing a fake-Western song? Cold Spring Harbor (1971) A raw debut that’s full of heart, Joel’s Cold Spring Harbor takes you to the East Coast where the magic began. Irritable Billy makes an appearance, but it’s still a solid song. 52. ​Sleaford Mods: Spare Ribs, review: when you're this angry and inventive, who needs tunes? 49. “A Room of Our Own,” The Nylon CurtainThe staple standup-comic territory of “Hey, men and women are different, you know?” in convenient pop-song form. Can I watch it if I don’t have TV? Doubly poignant because his mother didn’t have it so easy, and their relationship was not always smooth (cf. 90. I’m guessing that Joel also does because, even though it was never a hit, he still performs it regularly. “Sometimes a Fantasy,” Glass HousesHe gets major points for trying to write a great phone sex song, but the result has a high ick factor, maybe because “make love long distance,” followed by pervy breathing, comes off gross rather than sexy. Sits well on the album, though not super-interesting when taken on its own. “You Look So Good to Me,” Cold Spring HarborA corny ballad, justifiably forgotten. (Benefits by comparison with Sting’s “Russians,” a similar, cheesier record.) Billy Joel Cold Spring Harbor (1971) 1. Another one that’s quite a bit better in the live recordings than in the studio. Might benefit from a less-dense arrangement with fewer layers. 17. William Martin Joel aka Billy Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and pianist.Commonly nicknamed the “Piano Man” after his first major hit and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released twelve studio albums from 1971 to 1993 as well as one studio album in 2001. 73. ‘Nasty’ Nigel Lythgoe on the legacy of Pop Idol: ‘Did I create a monster? Literally forgettable. “Two Thousand Years,” River of DreamsHe’s reaching for something philosophical and trying for a big idea, but it doesn’t quite get there, and the lyrics wander. “Got to Begin Again,” Cold Spring Harbor Another small but nicely wrought song that someone should dig up and rerecord. It went on to win Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. “Zanzibar,” 52nd StreetA lot of people like this one, and would have ranked it higher. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. 6. 63. In 1971 Billy Joel started his solo career with the album "Cold Spring Harbour" and finally achieved fame in 1973 with his song "Piano Man". 58. I grew up right off the Jersey Turnpike, halfway between Levittown and Allentown, during the years when he was on the radio every day. “All for Leyna,” Glass Houses A pretty intense, pretty good stalker song. “Travelin’ Prayer,” Piano ManAnother one that feels like he’s on weird unfamiliar turf, but taken as a product of the early seventies, it’s not bad at all. “52nd Street,” 52nd Street Sounds like one of the Ray Charles duets without Ray. 10 of the best Billy Joel songs 18 Feb 2020, 12:07pm Gallery: From Katy Perry’s Trump skeleton to Adele’s middle finger: the most controversial Brit Awards moments – in pictures “Summer, Highland Falls,” TurnstilesEveryone but me seems to single out this song as one of his very best, maybe the best. You hear the first verse, and it’s pretty square but okay — and then he sings it again, in French, and you cringe. 45. Cold Spring Harbour ... and upon its release the whole thing was far from what Joel had intended. (Although I recently had an argument with someone who claimed that line was junk. 28. “Pressure,” The Nylon CurtainYou do, in fact, have to deal with pressure. It also has picked up an unfortunate association of late (Stormfront, to which we will not be linking here, is the premier white-supremacist site on the internet). Another great vocal performance, on an underrated album that contains several of his best songs. © 2021 Vox Media, LLC. 106. (He really hated L.A.) Much better in live later recordings, where the piano sounds cleaner, the violins are gone, and he sings it better. “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song),” The Stranger Only the goofy-awkward “heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack” keeps this one out of the top ten. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. “When in Rome,” Storm Front        I’m surprised this didn’t click as a radio hit, because it hits every mainstream note of that era — leaving it sounding a little generic today. “Christie Lee,” An Innocent ManYeah, it’s dated, but c’mon: If you were reading gossip columns in the heyday of Page Six, the Christie Brinkley songs (of which there are several) are pretty nearly irresistible fun. 29. “Close to the Borderline,” Glass Houses Just about the hardest rocking-out he ever recorded, and he did it pretty well. Armie Hammer Says He’s ‘Genuinely Sorry’ For Calling Woman ‘Miss Cayman’ in Vid, The Miss Cayman Universe Committee released a statement saying that the Committee was “very disturbed by the video.”. “Shameless,” Storm FrontNo piano! *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. “Say Goodbye to Hollywood,” Turnstiles Poorly recorded — the bass overwhelms it — and the studio cut sounds weak and wan, but underneath all that, there’s a well-wrought pop song in hiding. 79. The TV-sign-off sound effect at the beginning is the only bit of corn here; lop that off and it’s perfect. Billy Joel The Stranger (1977) WINNER : "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" WINNER : "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" 2: 2. We’ve corrected it to say that the concert is February 18. “James,” Turnstiles Admittedly a little watery, but in the end, it’s a small, personal song about a mysterious broken friendship. Unusually oblique. It’s certainly not very cool for an arts editor to defend Billy Joel. 5. Fun song in concert; cheesier at home. 10. 104. But the ranking draws on 30 years of soaking in these songs, plus multiple repeat playings of every one over the past three months. Lyrically slack. The lead single from his fifth studio album The Stranger, it became his first pop top 10 hit peaking at #3. Lately, though — like every artist from a generation back — he is undergoing a critical reassessment, despite some dissenters. (Never mind that it was reportedly written about his previous supermodel girlfriend, Elle Macpherson.). 11. For critics, he’s a problem. 96. • The songs that rise to the top are, with a few exceptions, the purer ones. Billy Joel. “Rosalinda’s Eyes,” 52nd StreetJust about every male singer-songwriter records a mom song; this is a good one. “You May Be Right,” Glass HousesGood straight-up power pop song. Has aged better than you’d think. 15. Pretty bad, and on a pretty good album to boot. With the melody sampled many times over in today’s pop culture, this performance version of the song just showcases how talented Billy Joel is. 71. Impeccable. “She’s Right on Time,” The Nylon Curtain Punchy performance, but the lyrics are thin, without much staying power. 10 of the best Billy Joel songs 18 Feb 2020, 12:07pm Gallery: From Katy Perry’s Trump skeleton to Adele’s middle finger: the most controversial Brit Awards moments – in pictures 103. 59. Billy Joel. William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer and pianist. What? “Tomorrow Is Today,” Cold Spring HarborTwo minutes into a rather quavery M.O.R. Possibly saved by the “modren woman” throwaway at the end. 51. Does that minor/major/minor/major step-down chord progression that Paul McCartney made his signature, with added George Martin shimmer. 76. 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