Billy Joel - Piano Man
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CD Details
Artist: Billy JoelEdition: Music CD
Format: Enhanced, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1998-10-20
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Travelin' Prayer
- Piano Man
- Ain't No Crime
- You're My Home
- The Ballad Of Billy The Kid
- Worse Comes To Worst
- Stop In Nevada
- If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You)
- Somewhere Along The Line
- Captain Jack
Music reviews of Piano Man
Music Review: An Album Worthy of Giving Billy Joel the Name - "Piano Man"
Rating: 5 Stars
In 1971, Billy Joel released his debut album entitled "Cold Spring Harbor". The album wouldn't attract much fanfare. However if one heard that debut album, it was more of a "subdued" effort when comparing it against his later works. At the same time, the songs were reflective of Billy's personality and he was on a quest for inspiration. One thing was very clear from that debut album - Billy Joel was one talented musician. Legal entanglements with the label that released "Cold Spring Harbor" prompted a change to Columbia Records. Billy would then release his second album - "Piano Man". From the title, this would not only become a signature album for Billy, but also his signature name. However, while the piano does play a key role on this collection - this collection isn't all about the piano. We see Billy show early in his career that he is ready to expand his musical horizons.
.
I look at Billy Joel's career as having three phases. The first phase is what I call "Old Billy Joel". This basically includes all of his material from "Cold Spring Harbor" through "Turnstiles". These are perhaps the strongest days as the piano sound, but they also contain most of Joel's least heard material. The next phase is what I call "Middle Billy Joel". This was his most successful period and covers from "The Stranger" to "Billy Joel Greatest Hits Volume 1 and 2". Joel would go through a transition during this phase - expanding his musical horizons and exploring different avenues. The final phase is the "Later Billy Joel" phase - this covers "The Bridge" to "River of Dreams". In this phase, Billy would start to incorporate some of his older styles of music while not abandoning his desire to continue to explore new avenues. "Piano Man" falls into the heart of the "Old Billy Joel". As mentioned while the piano plays an integral role on this collection, this collection isn't all about the piano. This collection will even have Billy exploring such avenues such as a folk/country influence. Most of these songs still won't be familiar to the mainstream fan, but by no means are they "filler" efforts.
Here is a Track by Track breakdown:
"Travelin Prayer": I've heard some folks criticize this song, but I couldn't disagree more. Listen how to the song starts with the bass/piano combo - that sequence is as good as I have ever heard those two instruments play together. The song then progresses into a country/folk feel. Joel sings the song at a first pace. The best part is - he pulls this off flawlessly. Joel's piano is awesome, but he also integrates a banjo and fiddle into the package (along with the bass). The lyrics to the song are basically a prayer. This truly is a Billy Joel song that is a "hidden gem".
"Piano Man": This is the title track that would eventually become Billy's personal signature. This track tells the story of Billy's piano lounge playing days. Throughout his career, this would become a staple of Billy - singing about his personal experiences.
"Ain't No Crime": This song is going to have a gospel/bluesy feel to it. While the piano is going fit like a glove on this song, the horns along with the gospel-choir background vocals are going to compliment Billy's work perfectly.
"You're My Home": This is a softer song and the country feel will come out again. This is a song that Billy wrote about his wife. It deals with the fact that even though Billy is on the road, his relationship with his wife provides him with the stability he desires.
"The Ballad of Billy the Kid": I've heard Billy do this song in concert, but this is one case where I prefer the studio version to the live version. Billy constructs an "Old West" sound. Billy makes terrific use of all of the instruments to give the sound needed for this theme - with the piano front and center (of course). This song is sung as a narrative, however listen how Joel throws a reference to "Oyster Bay" (Long Island) - raising the question of Joel and Billy the Kid are one and the same?
"Worse Comes to Worse": This song is classic Billy Joel through and through. Billy references his piano lounge days by saying he makes a living "out of a piano bar". This is once again a "hidden gem" song by Billy.
"Stop in Nevada": This song is sung as a narrative. It is the story of a woman who leaves her man to head out to California. Along the way, she makes a stop in Nevada. This song reflects Billy's passion to sing about geographic places. This is another example of Billy utilizing a country influence on this collection.
"If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You)": This song starts out as bluesy piano piece. Once again - it makes for classic Billy Joel. This song may also reflect Billy's career and relationship as he has trouble expressing his feelings in words - despite the fact he is a songwriter. While not as prevalent as in other tracks on this collection, there is a slight country edge to it.
"Somewhere Along the Line": Once again, I felt this was classic Billy Joel - especially with the piano work. Here we have Billy singing about Europe,
"Captain Jack": I look at this song in a the "day of the life" of a young man - possibly a teenager. From the musicianship standpoint, the guitar work is really going to shine here. On the bridge, there is a very small country influence on this.
The remastered collection includes all of the lyrics. Overall, there is some good stuff that gets forgotten about when looking at Billy Joel's career. Most importantly, this album is worthy of giving Billy the name - "Piano Man". This is highly recommended.
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