Customer Reviews

Turnstiles [Enhanced Version]

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Though "The Stranger" gets most of the nods for best
Billy Joel album, it's this album--which flew considerably
under the radar when it was released a year earlier--that
presents Joel's most consistent set of tunes. There isn't
a weak track on here, and some (I've Loved These Days,
New York State of Mind, Summer Highland Falls)
have become standards. He covers a lot of stylistic ground
here, including Phil Spector, saloon jazz, and direct
balladry, and succeeds every time. The commercial triumph of
"The Stranger" took the world by surprise, but that's only
because they missed this album the first time. Everything
that would make Joel huge in a couple of years is right here.

A must.

dap

After his first three albums, Billy Joel rose from the ranks of "underground" musician and into more of a mainstream star. Those three albums would have what would be considered one or two "classic" songs that would stay with Joel through his career ("Cold Spring Harbor" would have "She's Got a Way"; "Piano Man" would have the title track and "Captain Jack"; "Streetlife Serenade" would have "The Entertainer"). The release of Billy Joel's fourth album - "Turnstiles" would be the album that would begin to mount the legend of "Billy the Kid" with many songs that would stay with Joel throughout his career.

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. I consider "Turnstiles to be the end of the Old Billy Joel phase. Billy still maintains his trademark piano sound - but now begins to look to those other musical horizons that would become the trademark of the "Middle Billy Joel" phase.

There are two central themes that are a part of "Turnstiles". The first theme is the "geographical" aspects of this album. There are lots of references to places on this collection. "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" references Hollywood (obviously); "Summer, Highland Falls" refers to the town of Highland Falls which is just south of West Point, NY; "New York State of Mind" not only mentions New York, but Miami Beach, Hollywood, The Rockies, Chinatown, Riverside, and the Hudson River; "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" has Miami, Broadway, Empire State, the Palisades (just north of NY), Harlem, the Battery (lower Manhattan), Norfolk, Queens, Bronx, Manhattan, Florida, and Mexico. I guess the title "Turnstiles" is a good way to sum these "travel" aspects of the album (even if the Subway doesn't go there).

The second theme is a theme of Retro, Reflection and Reminiscence. This is evident on several songs. "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" has a very much a retro type theme with its sound. Although "All You Wanna Do is Dance" makes a references about "Why don't the Beatles get back together", "lost in the seventies" and "oh baby, you want to crawl back into yesterday". The song "James" is a song about a person by that name who seems to have been a friend of Billy's - and the two have gone separate ways. On "I've Loved These Days", the title is clearly indicative of the theme of reflection and reminiscence. You will hear this theme on other lines such as "We'll drink a toast to how it's been" and "We'll have to Change our Ways". Finally "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" looks back at some days in New York "before we all lived here in Florida" (I think Billy is looking back some 41 years in the future from the year 2017).

Musically this is a solid album for Billy Joel. Billy used much of this collection to begin to expand his horizons. There is use of the saxophone on this collection. As mentioned "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" has a retro sound. Billy's piano is center stage, but there is also some interesting percussion and saxophone. "I Loved These Days" also makes nice use of the saxophone. "All You Wanna Do is Dance" has a reggae and calypso type of sound to it - especially with its percussion. "New York State of Mind" - a strong piano song takes a jazz/blues angle. There is of course some classic piano work - like on "Summer, Highland Falls" and "Prelude/AngryYoung Man". Perhaps the best song is the finale - "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)". It is classic Billy from a vocal and piano perspective. I love how goes into the uptempo part - complete with guitars and saxophone. This song sometimes gets forgotten about, but its as strong a song as any he has done.

This version of the CD is also an enhanced CD. If you install the "Enhanced CD" on your Windows computer you will get three music videos - "New York State of Mind", "Prelude/Angry Young Man" and "Miami 2017". These are all live clips that Billy performed in concert well after the release of this album. Billy will change up a few words to reflect where he is singing the song. In "New York State of Mind" he will reference "Newsday" (a Long Island paper) instead of the "Daily News". In "Maimi 2017" he will reference "before the mafia took over Jericho" (instead of Mexico). The only problem with the video portion is the quality of the video is just not there.

It is also worth noting that four songs from this album made it to the Broadway production of "Movin' Out" that based on Billy Joel's music. These songs are "Summer, Highland Falls", "James", "Angry Young Man", and "I've Loved These Days".

The liner notes contain all of the lyrics to each song. The one part I did feel was weaker was the production and musician credits. Overall this is a superb album. It sets the stage nicely for Billy Joel to enter the most successful phase of his career. This is highly recommended for the casual and serious Billy Joel fan.

Unfortunately, this album was completely overshadowed by The Stranger, but in it's own way it proves that it belongs with that album as the high-water mark of Billy Joel's career. Don't get me wrong, I like the later stuff too, but this album shows the full songwriting capability of a great talent and, at least for me, the overall songs on this album are more thoughtful than on The Stranger. "Summer, Highland Falls", "New York State of Mind", and "Prelude/Angry Young Man" alone make this a good album. "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" and "Miami 2017" make it a great album. While most of these songs were re-released as live versions on Songs From The Attic, I prefer the studio versions simply because most of the subtleness is lost before a stadium full of people. This was one that I insisted on getting for my collection.

This 1976 album has a dubious history on CD. The songs are all great, but "New York State of Mind" hasn't received its proper due from the standpoint of sonics or consistency. "Turnstiles" was released on CD in 1986 (Columbia, CK 33848). This initial CD release has very clean sound - given the CD technology available at that time - except on "New York State of Mind." It suffers on this CD release from loud hiss, especially in the piano introduction. This hiss is not as apparent on the CD's other seven tracks.

The original "Turnstiles" release of "New York State of Mind" appeared with much cleaner sound on the vinyl and cassette releases of "Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Volumes I and II," issued by Columbia in 1985. The CD release of "Greatest Hits Volumes I and II", however, features a slightly different version of "New York State of Mind." It has almost no background noise, but DOES HAVE annoying reverb on Billy Joel's vocals. It also has a VERY different saxophone track. It is this latter butchery of "New York State of Mind" that is featured on the 1998 CD re-issue of "Turnstiles." It was also featured on a cassette edition of "Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Volumes I and II" that I bought in 1993. As I mentioned earlier, the original "Turnstiles" release of "New York State Of Mind" appeared with much cleaner sound on the original vinyl and cassette issues of "Greatest Hits Volumes I and II" issued in 1985.

Why has one of Billy Joel's best known songs been so mistreated on CD? Why was there so much hiss on its initial CD release? Why was the instrumentation butchered in its additional CD
re-issues? "Turnstiles" has great material, but also has a legacy of inconsistency on CD. Unfortunately, so does one of Billy Joel's signature songs.

For my money, I am content to have the original CD release of "Turnstiles (Columbia, CK 33848)," which may still be found in some used record and CD stores. I would rather have this release - albeit with the hiss on the original version of "New York State of Mind" - rather than any substitutes.

After listening to this CD, it's difficult to believe it took until "The Stranger" for Billy Joel to really break into the mainstream music world. This album easily ranks among Joel's best, combining deep messages with brilliant, poetic prose in his classic manner--a manner he's lost somewhat in his more recent work. Happily for me, this album is somewhat piano-heavy; each song features a different type of piano accompaniment, ranging from the subtle chords of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" and "New York State of Mind" to the prominent arpeggios of "Summer, Highland Falls" and the mind-blowing virtuosity of "Angry Young Man." There's a nice balance of upbeat and melancholy work on this album, with each song reflecting a different facet of Joel's mastery of composition--the unabashed blues of "New York State of Mind" meet the soft, reflective "James" (Joel's pensive questioning of the life choices of a close friend), which meets the hard-rocking "Miami 2017" (his commentary on the modern relationship between New York and society). Even "All You Want to Do is Dance," which is probably the weakest song on this album, has enough of a catchy '70s pop feel to it that you'll find yourself humming it without meaning to. "Angry Young Man" and "I've Loved These Days" are particular standouts; the former is Joel's outspoken condemnation of the 20s male and his needless "causes" (which, Joel ironically admits, he understands all too well), and the latter is a sweeping ballad that paints Joel's nostalgia for the nightlife he enjoyed during those "angry young man" days. Every song on this album is a winner, easily ranking with anything on Joel's "Greatest Hits" albums (and, in my opinion, surpassing some of those songs). If you only know Joel by his greatest hits albums and you're looking to expand into his lesser-known work, "Turnstiles" is, without a doubt, the CD to get.

In 1975, Billy Joel returned to native New York (from California where he was hiding from his old record producer)in order to rethink his career. He had come back armed with a new contract with Columbia Records and two LP releases under his belt. Despite the so-so sales of those albums, Billy was energized musically. TURNSTILES was mainly produced by Billy at Ultrasonic Studios in Hemstead, NY in late '75/early '76. There was a major difference with this particular record: Billy used his OWN musicians, the ones who had been playing with him on the road: Liberty Devito (drums), Richie Cannata (saxes), The late Doug Segmeyer(bass), Russell Javors (guitar). The result was a much more focused rock album, without the over-produced arrangements that had plagued his earlier works. Billy and his band rock through such chestnuts as PRELUDE/ANGRY YOUNG MAN, SAY GOODBYE TO HOLLYWOOD and 2017 (SEEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT ON BROADWAY). The ballads are sweet but strong: SUMMER HIGHLAND FALLS and NEW YORK STATE OF MIND are two of the finest Billy Joel tracks of all time. Each track had a memorable melody and insightful lyrics. It all amounted to a fantastic record that pointed Billy Joel & Band to the door of fame and success.

The music critics gave TURNSTILES positive reviews. Although initial sales were mediocre, Billy Joel's relentess touring schedule in support of the disc cemented the fact that his next album was going to be his breakthrough... and then some.
TURNSTILES is definitely a watershed album in Billy Joel's career, and essential listening for all rock fans.

Billy Joel's Turnstiles is an album about transition-transition to new locations and, more importantly, transition to a more mature understanding about self and the surrounding world. Turnstiles didn't receive much commercial attention when it was first released but has since become a favorite among Billy Joel aficionados. And for good reason: it contains some of Billy's most thoughtful and introspective lyrics, and his melodic gifts are on full display. Turnstiles may not be as immediately catchy as some of his other albums, such as The Stranger or Glass Houses. But it is perhaps Billy Joel's most personal album, and it richly rewards repeat listens.

The album kicks off with "Say Goodbye to Hollywood," a tribute to '60s-style Spector-esque pop. Billy wrote this song shortly after he himself had left Southern California, where for a few years he struggled to jump start his career, to return home to New York City. The song finds Billy caught between feelings of excitement and ambivalence about leaving L.A.: he joyfully belts out the chorus as if he's dying to escape from La-La Land but also realizes the bittersweet truth that "Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes/I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again."

Regardless of any mixed feelings he may have had about leaving the West Coast, "New York State of Mind" indicated how elated he was to get back to the City That Never Sleeps. Clearly inspired by the blues of Ray Charles (with whom Billy later made a memorable duet), this valentine to the Big Apple celebrates the truism that there's no place like home.

On "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)," Billy intended to craft a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi epic about New York City's post-apocalyptic future. However, in light of the tragedy of September 11th, lines like "I saw the Empire State laid low" and "I watched the mighty skyline fall" now strike one as chillingly prescient. Nevertheless, this remains one of Billy Joel's best rockers, beginning with Billy singing over spare piano accompaniment and soon building into a full-scale guitar rave-up.

On Turnstiles, Billy also examines the possibility of contentment in an imperfect world, and he arrives at some rather interesting conclusions. In the simple but lovely ballad "Summer, Highland Falls," he begins by singing "They say that these are not the best of times/But they're the only times I've ever known" and then ultimately concludes that "We are always what our situations hand us/It's either sadness or euphoria." In other words, although we may not prefer the hand that life's dealt us, it is up to us to determine whether we'll make the best with what we have. And on "I've Loved These Days"-another of the memorable ballads that Billy Joel seems effortlessly capable of creating-he affectionately recounts that there was much to appreciate amidst the decadence and overindulgence of the "Me Decade."

Billy also proffers advice to two archetypes in contemporary society: (1) the self-righteous, overbearing, and humorless crusader and (2) the noble do-gooder whose over-anxiousness to please others undercuts his (or her) own ability to find true personal fulfillment. "Prelude/Angry Young Man" begins with a piano solo featuring Billy striking the keys with machine-gun rapidity, a spectacle that is impressive to hear (and even more fascinating to see if you've ever seen him perform this song in concert; his hands are a blur). Following this dazzling intro, Billy counsels the "angry young man"-whose "radical plans" and "righteous rage" lead him constantly to have "his fist in the air and his head in the sand"-to step back and realize that "just surviving is a noble fight." And on "James," Billy tells a lifelong friend who has labored so hard to live up to everybody else's expectations to "Do what's good for you, or you're not good for anybody." Both of these songs have appealing melodies and are underrated entries in Billy Joel's song catalog.

"All You Wanna Do is Dance" is the slightest song on the album. Still, its Caribbean sway (complete with reggae guitar and steel drums) make it pleasant to listen to. (In a mini-homage to the Fab Four, when Billy mentions the Beatles, the background singers croon "ooh-la-la-la" in a manner identical to that heard on "You Won't See Me" from the Rubber Soul album.)

The album isn't without its weaknesses, however. The production values on some of the songs are rather sterile, and some of the performances lack the vitality that you normally associate with Billy Joel's music. This fact isn't lost on Billy himself. In the liner notes to "Songs in the Attic," Billy himself admitted that "something was missing on those old records [pre-The Stranger]. ... [T]he original recordings ... didn't have nearly as much energy and joy as the live recordings."

Nevertheless, the material on Turnstiles is uniformly strong and makes for an enjoyable and thoughtful listen. Fittingly, this album about dealing with transition was released not long before Billy Joel went from being a semi-obscure singer-songwriter to one of the music industry's most wildly successful hitmakers.

I found this on the discount rack at a local store, and I was very excited, yet as a fan of Billy Joel somewhat insulted. Turnstiles is one of Joel's best albums (probably second only to "The Stranger"). Fans of folk and simply well written music will love "Summer, Highland Falls" and "Miami 2017." The other great ballads on this album includ "Say Goodbye to Hollywood," a great song about going and coming, and of course "New York State of Mind" is very soothing song that makes you feel your there and is really convincing is describing the Big Apple and the only vacation destination. Other notables include "James" as story of his old friend, and "Angry Young Man," a softer tale of a cynic. Turstiles is simply well written and performed, really fits in an era of James Taylor, Elton John, Harry Chapin, and Don McLean, except with a twist all Billy's own.

This is by far the most listened to CD that I have. For about 2 years, Billy Joel has been my favorite artist, and this is his best album by far. Unlike most artists, you can't buy his greatist hits or box set and call yourself a fan. Turnstiles has some of his best songs, yet they don't appear on his greatist hits album. If I were a buyer, I'd suggest skipping the greatistm hits 2 and 3(which focused on the later part of his career), and buy His earlier works such as Streetlife Serenade, the Stranger, Piano Man, and definitely Turnstiles.

Billy Joel has long been my favorite artist (since 1976 to be exact) and I recently rebought this CD because mine was so overplayed. It still is one that stays in my CD player most of the time. If you LIKE Billy Joel, you will LOVE this CD. It is by far his best work and was the very first album of any kind that I owned. I'm still a fan of this one and think others will be too. It's got a little something for everyone on it. It's the perfect one to add to your Billy Joel collection, even if you don't plan on listening to it as much as I do.