Kind of Amazing

Billy Joel’s been around a long time. He’ll turn 73 this year. But he hasn’t put out an original album in nearly 30 years.

Why?

Because he doesn’t have to. By the time he put out that album in ’93, he was 4 and had already amassed a catalogue that really couldn’t be matched. And so he stopped that life of grinding in the studio and writing the music and now just takes it out on the road as he wishes.

And he put out a lot of good stuff. I think his most popular was 1977’s The Stranger. So many good songs on that one — “Movin’ Out,” “Vienna,” “Only the Good Die Young,” “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.” I wonder if Mom still has it in the closet.

The thing is, though, Joel’s album Piano Man is a whole different animal.That album is best known for its title track — which is a great song — but the whole thing is pretty much solid from beginning to end. In my opinion, “Piano Man” is only the third best song on the album. The first two are “Captain Jack” and “The Ballad of Billy the Kid.” Great orchestration.

And the thing is, Joel was only 24 when Piano Man came out in 1973. And that’s kind of amazing.