Essential Billy Joel Songs (1970)

Billy Joel might be the "piano man" but he's also a rocker, too. I knew the guy had so many great albums but it didn't really dawn on me until I went through all of them in succession! He shot up pretty high on my all-time greats list and I'm glad I was able to see him live in concert. 

10. "She's Always A Woman" (The Stranger)
Before going through A LOT of Billy Joel albums over the last few weeks, I wouldn't have listed this song. It probably wouldn't even crack a Top 30. But going through all of his albums, and especially The Stranger for the first time, this one stood out. It's a strong vocal performance from Billy with minimal instruments compared to a lot of his other songs, which puts more focus on his lyrics and vocals.

9. "My Life" (52nd Street)
I hated Billy Joel when I was kid. HATED him. When I got a little older, this one kinda grew on me, though I still hated Billy Joel.

8. "Summer, Highland Falls" (Turnstiles)
When I was discovering that I really liked Billy Joel, my dad had only two of his records in his collection, The Nylon Curtain and Turnstiles. I liked "80's Joel" more and didn't recognize any songs from Turnstiles, so I passed on it. Big mistake. This was on a Billy Joel live album, then I heard it live, and finally after that, I turned to the Turnstiles album.

 
7. "Zanzibar" (52nd Street)
Seems like I always come across great albums whenever I house sit for my aunt. I had recently bought an Essential Billy Joel collection, except it lacked "Big Shot", and that's one song I really wanted! My aunt had the CD of 52nd Street, so I gave it a listen, and the whole album was stellar from start to finish. "Zanzibar" is really jazzy and I dug the rhyming on, "I've got the old man's car, I've got a jazz guitar, I've got a tab at Zanzibar."

6. "The Stranger" (The Stranger)
Sometimes I feel like a stranger. I feel like one group of people only know me for certain characteristics, while co-workers think of me as something different entirely. This song feels kind of like that. "The Stranger" also has a unique intro with piano and whistling, somewhat reminding me of the music from The Incredible Hulk TV series. After that intro, it turns into a really funky tune that gets stuck in my head, almost reminiscent of a Steely Dan-esque song.

 5. "Angry Young Man" (Turnstiles)
Listening to the Billy Joel XM Channel last month is what inspired me to chose him for a Top Ten list, which then led to me splitting his career in half. The channel was pretty cool because not only did it mix album versions with live cuts, but between songs Joel would give anecdotes on many songs. He said this song was about his friend who was a war veteran, whom he hired to be his road manager, yet it didn't work out. So he turned it into a song. It's crazy this song isn't on that 2-disc Essentials collection either, so I didn't even hear it for the first time until I bought his Shea Stadium set.


4. "Miami 2017" (Turnstiles)
This is another gem from Turnstiles that I really only came across during this month of consuming Billy Joel. Garth Brooks even stated on the Billy Joel XM channel that this is his favorite song of Billy's and he listens to it before going on stage to perform. Pretty cool.

3. "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" (The Stranger)
Workin' too hard has given me a heart attackkkkkkkkakkkkk!

2. "Captain Jack" (Piano Man)
Around the time that I bought tickets to see Billy Joel back in early 2014, I picked up a copy of Billy's Live At Shea Stadium DVD/CD set. Prior to that purchase I was only familiar with a handful of his 70's songs, pretty much the radio staples. This song instantly stood out from that live set. Reading up on Joel on the internet revealed a neat fact- a version he did for radio concert would eventually be what landed him a deal with Columbia Records.

1. "Only The Good Die Young" (The Stranger)
"I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun..." That pretty much sums it up.