Greatest Hits Vols. 1 & 2 [Remaster] [ECD] - Joel, Billy (CD 1998)

The Piano Man Will Never Die!

Note: This was revised on Aug. 25, 2000--I had to leave in a hurry on the 24th--my computer time had expired. sorry about the spelling errors--I've corrected them.


Billy Joel is one of those artists who has had an uncanny ability to connect with his audience in his lyrics. I first heard of Joel in March 1974 with the story song, "Piano Man." I remember buying the 45 just a week after my 13th birthday and playing it endlessly. It was a song I had wanted very much to make the top 10, but unfortunately, it only stalled at #25 because Joel was a newcomer. I can recall Casey Kasem saying it was "a story song, like Harry Chapin's "Taxi" and "WOLD.

The following is a commentary on some of the other tracks:

"Captain Jack"-- this song is a haunting tale of a junkie who is terminally immature. For some reason, people always liked to play on Sunday nights at the bar I like to go to. The lyrics seem to hint at the need for a wake-up call.

"The Entertainer"-- a brutally honest assessment of the record industry and how difficult it is to break through.

"Say Goodbye to Hollywood"--another tale that tells the tale that movie star dreams don't always become reality (subject of song reminds me of Gladys Knight's 1973 hit, "Midnight Train to Georgia.")

"New York State of Mind"--a jazz-tinged song that evokes images of a person unwinding after a long day. Song has a winter-blues feel to it.

"The Stranger"--the title track to his 1977 commercial breakthrough LP, this was my personal favorite from that album. I enjoyed how the guitar kicked in after the intro, which features Joel whistling. The lyrics deal with the masks we all wear and "the game," which we are all too good at.

"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"--This song has gotten many a bar into a festive mood. Despite the rollicking melody, however, the lyrics tell a story of a couple who was in a hurry--and whom everybody thought had it made. Reality, however, told a different story.

"Just the Way You Are"--The Grammy winner for 1978, this was Joel's first top-10 hit. This was one of those sensitive ballads that was probably very hard to write and sing because of the emotion involved.

"Movin' Out"--I enjoyed this song because it spoke out against the rat race. By the late-'70s, "stress" and "hectic" had become fixtures in our vocabularies, and the culture was in transition from the cosmic/self-discovery mode to the yuppie careerist mode. I liked the urgency of the song, which warned about workaholism and the excesses of the "obligatory" American Dream.

"She's Always a Woman"--This song had brutal lyrics, couched in a slow ballad. It talks about a thoroughly unlikable, ultra-sophisticated character whom the narrator enjoys anyway.

"My Life"--This was one of the anthems of the "Me" decade of the '70s--it simply tells people to mind their own business and that he was free to make his own choices. My sister, an avid Joel fan, used to play this song all the time during the winter of '79.

"Big Shot"--my favorite track off Joel's "52nd Street" album, this angry, attitude-drenched song skewers a poseur and gives her a deserved scolding. When I first heard it, in Fall 1978, I thought the lyrics said "big shot ditcher," not "big shot, didn't ya."

"You May Be Right"--This hard rocker explores a fight between a biker and his nagging wife. It is Billy at his most rebellious and combative.

"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"--This hook-laden song takes a swipe at the new wave fads of the early '80s. It was his first of three #1 pop hits he has had, and the guitar work on this track is excellent.

"Don't Ask Me Why"--This song elicits a mellow barroom atmosphere; Joel takes swipes at a fastidious socialite. This song was climbing the charts 20 years ago this month, while the previous track was on its way down.

"Pressure"--a new-wave-tinged song that hit a little too close to home. My ability to handle pressure has always been suspect. It seemed as though he was speaking to me personally in the fall of 1982, when I was a floundering 21-year-old college student.

"Allentown"--This song I enjoyed because it was about my birthplace--and it discussed the economic recession, as well as the loss of manufacturing jobs in the early-80s. Like John Mellencamp's "Rain on the Scarecrow," Joel's "Allentown" talked of the adverse effect of the economy on struggling people.

"Goodnight Saigon"--This was a harrowing tale of a veteran's experience in Vietnam. It was one of the first songs that told of the experience from the soldier's point of view. It steered clear of the jingoism that glorified war--or the strident anti-war rhetoric of the late 1960s.

"Tell Her About It"--This showed Joel in a much lighter vein. He was rediscovering his youthful innocence--the song had a mis-'60s summertime feel to it.

"Uptown Girl"--Joel's tribute to The Four Seasons, this song also had a mid-'60s feel to it, and the infectious melody was a knockout.

"The Longest Time"--This song was inspired by the R&B doo-wop groups of the late 1950s. This single had a springtime feel to it, and it was a hit in the spring of 1984.

"You're Only Human"--This was a song that spoke to youths who were on the edge--it was an anti-suicide song that had an airy summer feel to it, surprisingly enough. The lyrics are a bit cliched--he does travel into Leo Buscaglia self-help territory in this hit.

Billy Joel has explored a variety of moods and topics in his hits. His emotions have ranged from lonely to angry, from sensitive to rowdy, from sarcastic to serious, and from light-hearted to socially conscious. He has had an uncanny ability to connect with his audience with his lyrics, which explains why he has been a major star for over a quarter century.