68. I’ve listed which Billy Joel album they first appeared on and, if different, the album containing my favorite rendition. “Close to the Borderline,” Glass Houses Just about the hardest rocking-out he ever recorded, and he did it pretty well. Might’ve been a lot better with a rewrite. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel),” River of DreamsNicely sung, presumably for his daughter Alexa, who was about 7 when this was recorded. Has Covid ruined Britain’s next generation of stars? Unimaginable that it’d be a hit today — this is another one that’s totally out of style — but it’s a particular weakness of mine, even though it’s not about much of anything besides, y’know, pressure. “The Entertainer,” Streetlife SerenadeThe Piano Man finds success! 35. Since it’s more fun to focus on the negative, let’s list the 10 worst Billy Joel songs: 10) “The Ballad of Billy the Kid” It’s bad history. “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. Studio albums: 13: Live albums: 6: Compilation albums: 16: Video albums: 10: Music videos But “We were sold a bunch of nonsense” is a thoughtful lyric in this context. A hard look at one of cinema’s oldest genres. “Falling of the Rain,” Cold Spring Harbor Screams 1971 in a weird, Pippinish-hippie way that doesn’t seem to come from a natural place for Joel: “misty satin dreams” and “wooded glades”? 74. Billy Joel The Stranger (1977) Eliminated after the final : "Vienna" Eliminated after the final : "Vienna" 3: 3. 31. 63. **An incorrect reference to the sax solo in this song has been removed. 105. 18. • Too many sound effects. “Don’t Ask Me Why,” Glass Houses Not bad at all, and very, very, catchy, but makes you wonder: What does this tropical-hotel setting have to do with anything? 114. song, a bizarre vocal break — he drops an octave and throws in an R&B turn, then snaps back to the sensitive-guy voice — feels like it fell in from Mars. “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. The unintentionally hilarious video may be affecting my judgment a little here. As a musician I know neatly put it to me the other day, “It’s what I want from him, with few Billy problems.” Cole Porter would have nodded and smiled at a line like “You can get what you want or you can just get old.”. A Great American Songbook song, written 20 years too late to have made it into the canon. “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” Glass Houses Most fans would put this one much higher on the list. Bring it out at your high-school reunion, and watch the couples start to slow-dance. It’s certainly not very cool for an arts editor to defend Billy Joel. 27. Recording is wavery and soft, and I’d be curious to hear a cover version that perhaps brings out whatever the song has in it. Very typical big-’80s sound, with synths and echo that haven’t aged well. 34. “Piano Man,” Piano Man Scoff if you will, but you’ve probably just heard it too many times. No more chip on his shoulder, secure in his talent, out Tony Bennett–ing Tony Bennett. 33. I’m guessing that Joel also does because, even though it was never a hit, he still performs it regularly. Would be curious to hear it in a cabaret setting. 111. “She’s Right on Time,” The Nylon Curtain Punchy performance, but the lyrics are thin, without much staying power. Every Billy Joel Album Ranked Worst To Best. 96. “Temptation,” The BridgeA schmaltzy torch song. The song was inspired by Billy Joel's first wife Elizabeth Weber. 51. Not a song many people think of, but I like it. What’s the deal with the, Music Producer Phil Spector Is Dead at 81. Billy Joel Song list. Holds up, and you should go listen to it again. But play it in a room full of music snobs, and they know every. Fast piano, banjo, even a jaw harp. Another Beatles tribute, too, this one a gesture to the Magical Mystery Tour era. The NBC sitcom will deliver a flying People’s Elbow through your TV screen February 16. 14. 57. Seems out of proportion to the problem. Might benefit from a remix. We may have to agree to disagree here. The New Yorker’s profile of him last year pointed out that he’s had 33 songs in the Top 40. 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 Glass Houses ... Limp Bizkit: The Rise & Fall In 10 Songs 10 Rock Bands That Completely Avoided The Sophomore Slump 10 … Clean power, vivid image, supple singing, tight rhythm, well-made, and bulletproof. 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. Hawley has found a new publisher for his book in Regnery, which is distributed globally by… wait for it… Simon & Schuster. 27 Notable New Releases Over the Next Two Weeks, Betty White Celebrates Her 99th With Carol Burnett Feeding a Baby Elephant. 5. First verse is the best. 9. • His Achilles’ heel is a recurrent, petulant demand for respect. The false ending is a little cheap. 19. “The Great Wall of China,” River of DreamsAnother one with a really polished hook and dull verses. The big piano breaks are old-fashioned but not bad. “Sleeping With the Television On,” Glass Houses The best Billy Joel song that was never a hit. His Lawn Guyland worldview comes from an honest place, and when he writes about, say, Anthony (who works in a grocery store, saving his pennies for someday), that guy rings true. Not terrible, but loses a lot of points for the awkward “no one ever has to feel like a refugee,” and the weird rolled-R delivery of “Mexican rrreefers.”, 83. “Shameless,” Storm FrontNo piano! 97. The Nylon Curtain. It went on to win Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Billy Joel scored his one UK Official Singles Chart Number 1 in 1983 with Uptown Girl, which came from his multi-platinum album An Innocent Man. Other times, we too often hear classical-music references or an awkward French lesson. Just because she’s almost 100 years old doesn’t mean the hustle stops for even a second. 84. (As fans know, Cold Spring Harbor was butchered on its release; I used the remastered boxed-set version to give those songs a fair shake.) ), the iffy rhymes (“James Dean” with “winning team,” among many others), the double mention of the Dodgers. William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer and pianist. “Scandinavian Skies,” The Nylon Curtain A junkie song by a non-junkie: As far as I know, a unique idea. “And So It Goes,” Storm FrontA better song on Joel’s weakest album, maybe because the sentiment isn’t very complicated. Kind of a shrug, in the end, but a pretty one. A charming if dated song. 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 “Through the Long Night,” Glass HousesHas a sewing-machine piano line that gets sleepy, but a nice ballad. 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 A great next-phase–New Wave pop song, one that deserves to come out of the trunk. Anthemic, a little soft. “Leave a Tender Moment Alone,” An Innocent Man This is a really sweet song that nobody pays attention to. 87. Billy Joel Turnstiles (1976) Eliminated after the semi-final : "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" 11. 23. Billy Joel and Jon Small, the drummer of The Hassles then formed the psychedelic duo "Attila" and released one album without success. “Real-estate novelist” is a great, vivid three-word characterization. 64. “New York State of Mind,” TurnstilesEvery era produces a couple of standards about New York City, and this one more than holds its own, between Comden and Green on one end and Jay Z and Alicia Keys on the other. 78. 65. It’s more of a gut feeling ranking, a summary of the overall effectiveness of the many things that can make Billy Joel songs enjoyable. The straightest of straight-up ballads, I grant you, but this is Billy Joel’s “Yesterday,” and “clevah conversation” makes it all his own, because Long Island. 122: 122. Is it very pretty? 113. “Easy Money,” An Innocent Man Unfortunately evokes nothing so much as Rappin’ Rodney. She's Got a Way (#26) 2. Already a subscriber? 115. New York was, everyone thought, dying; amazing to think that a song could be written from the point of view of a retiree in Florida, remembering when the city collapsed. “Tell Her About It,” An Innocent ManOne of what I refer to as Joel’s Instructional Songs: records aimed directly at young people who need a boost in times of trouble. Steve Martin Happy to Get COVID Vaccine, Less Excited to be Old Enough to Get It, Groove to the Official Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Inauguration Playlist, The 40 Best Horror Movies on Hulu Right Now, What time is it? Readers’ Poll: The Best Billy Joel Songs of All Time Selections include ‘Vienna,’ ‘Captain Jack’ and ‘Goodnight Saigon’ That’s about a quarter of the songs he’s written and recorded. 13 Top 10 Hit; 42 Songs; The River Of Dreams. Hanging around with Bianca Jagger? Cynthia wrestles with whether or not to invite her father to her pandemic wedding, while Kandi gets the girls together for a good cause. 12. (Although I recently had an argument with someone who claimed that line was junk. 82. “James,” Turnstiles Admittedly a little watery, but in the end, it’s a small, personal song about a mysterious broken friendship. “I’ve Loved These Days,” TurnstilesOne of the better songs on this album, and I’m surprised it hasn’t become more of a standard. (Never mind that it was reportedly written about his previous supermodel girlfriend, Elle Macpherson.). “You’re Only Human (Second Wind),” Greatest HitsAnother buck-up-kid Instructional, and another one that’s got some charm. An artifact of its time and place. 22. “Somewhere Along the Line,” Piano ManAn early song from his Depression Canon, this one seems to be about anhedonia — “it’s all going to catch up to you” — but it’s musically a little flat. Another one that I keep listening to, over and over, trying to like it; can’t tell you a word that stuck with me. “Leningrad,” Storm FrontYes, it’s kitsch — of course Russian people live ordinary lives too — and the music is gooey. “Summer, Highland Falls,” TurnstilesEveryone but me seems to single out this song as one of his very best, maybe the best. 36. “Only the Good Die Young,” The Stranger None of that sour petulance here; it’s a song by a happy warrior in love and romance. We’ve corrected it to say that the concert is February 18. Could make a case for either; I like it. 91. “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Storm FrontThe biggest problem song for the Billy Joel apologist, because it is highly popular and inescapably bad. And wait two years for the be-all-end-all live performance of this one, probably at Sun Life Stadium. On multiple relistenings, I half-expected to find it annoying, but it’s not. We’ve reached the point where it’s no longer possible to give Natalie the benefit of the doubt. 48. The arrangement could, admittedly, be a little crisper. A century from now, if you want a wry but ultimately affectionate look at Long Island middle-class life circa 1976, you could do a lot worse than Brenda (sorry, Brender) and Eddie, their paintings from Sears, and the Parkway Diner. 61. Wish he’d left out the helicopters, though. I just don’t hear it — I think it’s pretty but not great. 1. 25. But that whole “Hey, what about me? Bernie Goetz? Albums don't get much better than this, and The Stranger stands as living proof of just how great Billy Joel is as a songwriter. Can we knock it for portraying secondhand experience? 99. That said, appreciation does not mean blindness, and Joel himself would agree that not every song on every album catches fire (though he did light it, and we tried to fight it). Billy Joel. Just The Way You Are. Would have been better shorter — loses steam as the title repeats. 10. No focus.”, Three Dwayne Johnsons of Varying Sizes Star in First. 98. 54. “Turn Around,” Cold Spring HarborAnother first-album ballad, probably not worth reviving. 8. “Careless Talk,” An Innocent ManAn album cut that doesn’t rise above, but it has nice bounce. Can I watch it if I don’t have TV? 89. Everybody Loves You Now (#32) 3. You can also knock ten points off for that uncomfortable “sit at home and masturbate” line, which has been filling arenas with uneasy giggles for 35 years, especially when “pick your nose” comes along a few lines later. Most of those charted in the era when you had to sell a lot of records to get there, too. A Matter Of Trust (1986) All About Soul (1993) All For Leyna (1980) Allentown (1982) An Innocent Man (1984) And So It Goes (1989) Angry Young Man (1976) Baby Grand (1986) I’ll admit that the brake screech in “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” is fun. Tomorrow Is Today (#58) A mature guy, doing the standards thing — except it’s a standard he wrote himself. 92. Anthony and Mama Leone and Sergeant O’Leary are New Yorkers of a certain age, people we know well, and this is a fine three-and-a-half-minute radio drama about them. Impeccable. I grew up right off the Jersey Turnpike, halfway between Levittown and Allentown, during the years when he was on the radio every day. Sinatra could’ve recorded it; Tony Bennett did; many others will. 28. “Laura,” a much less affectionate view). 117. 112. You hear the first verse, and it’s pretty square but okay — and then he sings it again, in French, and you cringe. “Rosalinda’s Eyes,” 52nd StreetJust about every male singer-songwriter records a mom song; this is a good one. Peaked at #3 on 12.11.1983. Billy Joel The Stranger (1977) WINNER : "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" WINNER : "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" 2: 2. 62. 32. You gotta stop somewhere. Outrage can bring greatness to art; irritability, not so much. Word. “A Matter of Trust,” The BridgeClosest thing he’s ever made to a Queen-style stadium anthem to play at sporting events, with a chorus that benefits from a lot of people singing along. “The Great Suburban Showdown,” Streetlife SerenadeNot-terrible vision of suburban anomie, but the references — crabgrass, sitting around the kitchen — are just too unoriginal. “Last of the Big Time Spenders,” Streetlife SerenadeA baby “Baby Grand,” unjustly ignored. “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. 55. 15. Marking a striking change in Billy Joel's backing band's line-up, Storm Front was released in 1989 and saw the singer reach for new heights. “Running on Ice,” The BridgePetulance on parade: “I could never understand why the urban attitude is so superior.” The piano-playing is virtuosic and showy, but the song’s ultimately a less interesting “Pressure.”. Songs ranked in each album : 123: 123. “Modern Woman,” The Bridge Spirited, and sorta fun — you can really picture this as the music behind a quick-cut montage in an ’80s Danny DeVito movie — but the cheese factor is very high. A really solid performance of a not very interesting song. Tristan the Slightly Rakish has come to Darrowby. Log in or link your magazine subscription, Photo: Maya Robinson and Photo by Larry Marano/Getty Images, The Complete Works: 121 Billy Joel Songs, Ranked, Jamie Lynn Spears Implicates Elon Musk in the Death of Her Cats, Here’s How to Watch the 2021 Presidential Inauguration of Joe Biden, Simon & Schuster Cancels Senator Josh Hawley’s Book After Capitol Riot. “Baby Grand,” The Bridge The big Ray Charles duet, a bookend to “Piano Man.” A great, heartfelt performance from both of them, but the song itself is a weird extended metaphor that doesn’t entirely come off (the only one who sticks by you is your piano … or whatever it is your piano represents). “Ain’t No Crime,” Piano Man Elton-ish record with a lot of backing vocals. But the big chorus is undeniable — it’s hard not to be swept along when it starts to crest. 3. 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. 73. 43. 7. 20. “Zanzibar,” 52nd StreetA lot of people like this one, and would have ranked it higher. Billy Joel. 42. Maybe Catholic girls start much too late, maybe they don’t, but either way, it’s funny as hell. Literally forgettable. 39. “Allentown,” The Nylon Curtain A lot of people think this is a terrible song. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. “Weekend Song,” Streetlife SerenadeAnother one with echoes of Elton John. “52nd Street,” 52nd Street Sounds like one of the Ray Charles duets without Ray. Hard not to get swept up, even if it’s kinda bombastic on the album. “The Night Is Still Young,” Greatest Hits An odd and unique one-off recording, with Joel’s voice multi-tracked. 6. A friendly, affectionate thanks-and-bye-for-now song, and, well, all right, it’s not side two of Abbey Road, but it’s not hateable either. “Iron and coke / Chromium steel” is vivid, the change from “we’re living here” to “I’m living here” is thoughtful, and the last line of the verse (“I won’t be getting up today”) takes you out with a strong image. Mostly avoids the oversinging that hurts songs like “Big Shot” — he sings with more of a straight growl here, and it’s a bit better. “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. Inauthentic, and it shows. This song literally fought for its freedom through its composure, vocals and lyrics. Only The Good Die Young. “Stiletto,” 52nd StreetAnother energetic R&B song. “Where’s the Orchestra?” The Nylon Curtain The performance on the album is a little low-energy, but it has interesting lyrics, with an unexpected callback to “Allentown” buried in the last verse. So much is wrong here: boomer-generation narcissism, the tri-state-area-news myopia (“hypodermics on the shore”? “Stop in Nevada,” Piano ManWhy is a guy from Long Island writing a fake-Western song? Surely that scene could’ve produced a song more interesting than this. 103. “Streetlife Serenader,” Streetlife Serenade Maybe a little too long, and yes, it’s about the emptiness of pop-star-hood — “shoppin’-center heroes” — but, hey, write what you know. Lyrics about broken friendships have a little kick, given that Joel’s had his share. “I Don’t Want to Be Alone,” Glass Houses How’d everyone miss this? Was he on vacation? 72. I still say “choose between reality and madness / it’s either sadness or euphoria” is pretentious undergrad stuff. 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 Songs Ranked: 1) The Great Suburban Showdown 2) Los Angelenos 3) The Entertainer 4) Roberta 5) Souvenir 6) Root Beer Rag 7) Streetlife Serenader 8) The Mexican Connection 9) Weekend Song 10) Last of the Big Time Spenders: 8: 8. Single. He still plays it in concert now and then, and has been known to introduce it as “kind of an obscure song”; it shouldn’t be. Inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992. I like this one, probably more than most people do. I’ll also give you that the piano performance is among his best. 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