RANKING BILLY JOEL’S ALBUMS

               It’s one of those days when I felt  like  listening  to  a particular album of a favorite musician of mine but  ended up listening  to all  his  studio albums. This time it’s   Billy Joel… I have been a Billy Joel  fan ever since I was young.  Aside from the Beatles and some of my favorite 80's New Wave era bands, I have also collected  all   his  12  studio albums.  I’m not counting his 13^th   and final studio album which is a classical music. (And honestly, I haven’t  heard any second of it.)

                As a kid who had listened to radio as a pastime,  growing up in the 70's (and up to early 80's)  it was impossible to miss and  not  be fond of Billy Joel. Many of his hits such as,   "Movin'Out,"  "Just TheWay You Are,"  "She's Always a Woman," "My Life, Honesty," " Big Shot,"  "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me," (U.S.  billboard no. 1) "You May Be Right," "Allentown," " Pressure," "Uptown Girl" and "Tell Her About It, "( U.S. billboard no. 1) among others were played extensively on F.M. radio.  This era was from  his 5th  album, The Stranger (1977)  until his 9th,  An Innocent Man(1983); the height of his popularity.

                His subsequent hit songs, especially his third and final U.S. billboard chart-topper,  "We Didn’t  Start The Fire” from his 11^th studio album (1989), Storm Front, did receive  considerable F.M. radio air time here but at this point, times have changed and his hits  came lesser and far in between; nevertheless, I think,  Billy Joel may be the only rock legend who retired  from making pop music while  on top of his  game, still selling multi-Platinum records.

                 A particular scene that is   permanently etched in my mind  during the late 70's is , upon entering the  locally popular but long-time ago defunct   Queens Supermarket in Araneta Center, Cubao, you will pass by ( the also popular but  long- time ago defunct)  Jonis Bakeshop,  peanut stands,   a glass display cabinet  with  die-cast Japanese robots for sale ,  a small record bar and a large portrait of Billy Joel’s 52^nd Street album cover hanging over the wall.

                 Well, so much for nostalgia, today I will   add my "five cents" in ranking   Billy Joel’s   albums. 

                   First, I look at   Billy Joel’s career as a pop singer  in three periods:   the pre-The Stranger albums ;  his albums from The Stranger  up to  An Innocent man; and his post- An Innocent Man albums.    

                My favorite period is from The Stranger – An Innocent Man. These are my formative years in terms of listening to music. I have own his albums in this period even as a kid,  in cassette tape  form.  I am familiar with the hits of his post-An Innocent Man era but have  owned and listened to the albums several to many years after they were released. With regards to his  pre-The Stranger albums , I only became aware of the existence of those, when Internet became part of my life, about a decade ago.  Naturally, I am biased to his The Stranger- An Innocent Man albums so, I will be as objective as I can be to avoid personal biases.

                I will rank the albums by trying to weigh and balance each for its consistency, song’s strength , hit songs and overall 'enjoyability'. I will  not use the phrase  “ from worst to best”   because he does not have any bad album. At the least every Billy Joel album is good and most are great records. 

                  Here is my list.      

1.       The Stranger (1977) –   To me, without a doubt  his best.

2.       Piano Man (1973) – Great album.  Solid, consistent and very enjoyable. A   collection of many great songs with diverse style.

3.       52nd Street (1978) – Great album.  Several   radio hits in here. The rest falls short but overall the album is solid and  very  enjoyable.

4.       Turnstiles (1976) - Great album. Consistent and very enjoyable even without a hit or a popular  song in it. If you thought Billy Joel hit the jackpot with The Stranger from out of the blue, you have to  listen to this. This laid the foundation;  all that was needed was  some changes in subjects or themes and (  as I have read somewhere), "perhaps the producer"-- and there  was no turning back. 

5.    An Innocent Man (1983) – Great album.  Highly enjoyable. His tribute to the Doo-Wap  and Motown , the music he grew up with.

6.       Nylon Curtain (1982) – Great album.  Solid  and cohesive. Tribute to the Beatles and Lennon. Beatles fans can  relate to this and  perhaps  easily identify  some Beatles songs  sound-alike or influenced.

7.     Storm Front (1989) - Great album. A loud, heavy and more political Billy Joel album.

8.   River of Dreams (1993) – Great album. First half is like Storm Front, loud and  heavy but  still  melodic . Second half contains vintage Billy Joel. One gem, “River of Dreams,” in here.

9.       The Bridge (1986) – Great album. Consistent and very enjoyable.

10.   Glass Houses (1980) – First- half (Side one) is an absolute blast and definitely one  of the most enjoyable first- half  of all his albums; however, the second-half falls way below the bar...  nonetheless, overall a good album.  Actually, one of my top 3 favorite Billy Joel album. “Some Times A Fantasy,”  a song that can be found in various New Wave compilations and is absent in his many official  compilations, in  here.

11.    Cold Spring Harbor (1971)- Light & easy listening, melodic,  and enjoyable. Made me  realize  how good a songwriter he is, even back then.

12.   Streetlife  Seranade (1974) –  Good album at the least. It has  "Streetlife Seranader,"  Los Angelenos," " Roberta," the enjoyable instrumental "Root Beer Rag" and to me, the best track, "The Entertainer."