50 Essential Songs by Billy Joel

Billy Joel is one of those artists that I grew up listening to because every member of our family always did. The reason for this is not just because I grew up on Long Island, but because my aunt Carol Freund actually worked for Billy back in the day. You can see her name is the liner notes of the album GLASS HOUSES. She worked at Home Run which was a publishing company that was run by Billy's ex-wife Elizabeth. Needless to say, I have heard and yes, practically memorized every song that he ever recorded. I am therefore qualified to make this list and cast my judgments.

There are only 50 Songs by Billy Joel that actually matter and they are...

Cold Spring Harbor ~ 1971

1) She's Got A Way

2) Everybody Loves You Now

3) Turn Around

4) Got To Begin Again

Piano Man ~ 1973

5) Travelin' Prayer

6) Piano Man

7) Ain't No Crime

8) You're My Home

Streetlife Serenader ~ 1974

9) Los Angelenos

10) Root Beer Rag

11) The Entertainer

12) Weekend Song

Turnstiles ~ 1976

13) Say Goodbye To Hollywood

14) Summer, Highland Falls

15) New York State of Mind

16) Prelude / Angry Young Man

17) I've Loved These Days

18) Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)

The Stranger ~ 1977

19) Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)

20) The Stranger

21) Just The Way You Are

22) Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

23) Vienna

24) Only The Good Die Young

25) She's Always a Woman

26) Get It Right the First Time

52nd Street ~ 1978

27) Big Shot

28) Honesty

29) My Life

30) Zanzibar

31) Stiletto

32) Half a Mile Away

Glass Houses ~ 1980

33) You May Be Right

34) Sometimes a Fantasy

35) Don't Ask Me Why

36) It's Still Rock-n-Roll To Me

37) All For Leyna

38) Sleeping With the Television On

39) Close to the Borderline

Songs in the Attic ~ 1981

40) Captain Jack (LIVE)

41) The Ballad of Billy The Kid (LIVE)

The Nylon Curtain ~ 1982

42) Allentown

43) Pressure

44) Goodnight Saigon

An Innocent Man ~ 1983

45 ) An Innocent Man

46) Tell Her About It

47 ) Leave a Tender Moment Alone

Greatest Hits Vol. 1 ~ 1985

48) The Night is Still Young

The Bridge ~ 1986

49) Code of Silence (Duet with Cyndi Lauper)

and finally last year in 2007..

50) Christmas in Fallujah (Cass Dillon)

All the rest of his songs are rubbish and every true fan knows this.

1. Uptown Girl
2. The Longest Time
3. Keeping The Faith
4. You're Only Human (Second Wind)
5. This Is The Time
6. A Matter of Trust
7. Modern Woman (from Ruthless People)
8. Why Should I Worry? (from Oliver & Company)
9. We Didn't Start The Fire
10. The Downeaster Alexa
11. I Go To Extremes
12. And So It Goes
13. All About Soul
14. Shameless
15. The River of Dreams
16. The Great Wall of China

Okay truth be told, I accidentally published this hub without it being finished, here is the REAL ENDING.

I was gonna go on to say that despite my trying hard to be liberal with my picks in deference to the end of his career, I still can't live with this list like this so....

I'm officially trading in some bad songs for better ones.

Songs Deleted

1. #28 HONESTY (Billy recently said on tour that he tried to be as honest as he could when he wrote but admitted, "except Honesty though, that was a bunch bullshit." Me & the rest of the MSG crowd laughed knowingly.)
2. #46 TELL HER ABOUT IT
3. the whole NYLON CURTAIN album sucks too.

New Songs Added

1. Stop In Nevada
2. Worst Comes To Worst
3. Somewhere Along The Line
4. Souvenir
5. Streetlife Serenader

I was also going to list the 20 BEST SONGS IN ORDER BY GREATNESS..

1. Vienna
2. The Stranger
3. Summer, Highland Falls
4. Miami 2017
5. Don't Ask Me Why
6. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
7. You May Be Right
8. Big Shot
9. Piano Man
10. Captain Jack (LIVE)
11. I've Loved These Days
12. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
13. Turn Around
14. New York State of Mind
15. Prelude / Angry Young Man
16. Get It Right The First Time
17. Los Angelenos
18. Sleeping With The Television On
19. She's Got a Way
20. Got To Begin Again