TURNSTILES - Billy Joel

YEAR: 1976

LABEL: Columbia

TRACK LISTING: Say Goodbye To Hollywod, Summer Highland Falls, All You Wanna Do Is Dance, New York State of Mind, James, Prelude/Angry Young Man, I've Loved These Days, Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)

IMPRESSIONS: This is the album released right before Joel's blockbuster hit album "THE STRANGER" which really brought him worldwide attention. While this isn't quite as strong an album as the next one, TURNSTILES still contains some of my favourite Billy Joel songs; most notably "I've Loved These Days" and "Summer, Highland Falls" which I rank among his best. The epic post-apocalyptic "Miami 2017" has become much better known in recent years than it once was (since Joel has played it often live since September 11, 2001). "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" and most certainly "New York State of Mind" have been overplayed much too much for me to include them as favourite tracks nowadays.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Summer Highland Falls, Prelude/Angry Young Man, I've Loved These Days, Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)

FACT SHEET: TURNSTILES is Billy Joel's fourth album. The album was partially inspired by Joel's return to New York after living in California. Three of the album tracks ("Summer, Highland Falls", "New York State of Mind" and "Miami 2017") are directly about New York. The musical style of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" is a direct homage to Ronnie Spector; that song, as well as "I've Loved These Days" reference Joel's farewell to the bohemian decadence of California he's leaving behind. The album was originally recorded at Caribou Ranch with members of Elton John's band and produced by James William Guercio. Joel wasn't satisfied with the results, fired Guercio and re-recorded the album as his own producer.