Billy Joel followed up The Stranger with an album just as strong if not as iconic, 52nd Street. This jazzy collection boasts such hits as ‘Big Shot,’ ‘Honesty’ and ‘My Life’ but it’s the other, lesser-known tracks that make it one of Joel’s finest efforts. ‘Zanzibar,’ ‘Stiletto,’ ‘Rosalinda’s Eyes,’ ‘Half a Mile Away,’ ‘Until the Night’ and the title track, which (in order) finish off the album after the first three hit tracks, are among the best songs Joel has ever written.
My personal favorite is today’s track, ‘Stiletto,’ and for one primary reason: the piano-bass interlude that starts at 2:08 and launches into that unreal horn part at 2:27 before easing back into the staccato piano and drum bit that precedes the next verse. That’s just quality stuff.
In the words of Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, “This is it. This is the one they’ll remember me for.” Of course he was talking about a porn film, but I imagine Billy Joel feels the same way about his 1977 classic The Stranger.
Turnstiles is Billy Joel’s first truly great album. Featuring such classics as ‘New York State of Mind,’ ‘I’ve Loved These Days,’ ‘Summer, Highland Falls,’ ‘Say Goodbye to Hollywood’ and ‘Miami 2017’ (which I 
Joel’s third album, Streetlife Serenade, is for me his least memorable. The only two songs I really know from it — ‘Los Angelenos’ and ‘Streetlife Serenader’ — were featured on the excellent live album Songs in the Attic and those versions top the ones found on this LP.
Joel’s breakthrough album, Piano Man, is probably best remembered for the tune that gave it its title. ‘Piano Man’ is indeed a great song, but it’s become a cliché. Has there been a write-up of Billy Joel in the past 36 years that hasn’t referred to him as a “piano man?”
Meet Me In Montauk 