BILLY JOEL: TURNSTILES (1976)
1) Say Goodbye To Hollywood;
2) Summer, Highland Falls; 3) All You Wanna Do Is Dance; 4) New York State Of
Mind; 5) James; 6) Prelude / Angry Young Man; 7) I've Loved These Days; 8)
Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway).
Billy Joel is back on the East Coast, and he
wants you to know it. No, scrape that, make it «he wants you to feel it with
the most sensitive fibers of your soul». He did not like it in California, he
likes it a lot better in New York, and this provides him with enough
inspiration for 36 conceptually organized minutes — and a rather odd-looking
album sleeve photoshoot where he is looking at you as if you were a policeman,
readying to apprehend the artist for attempting to take a subway ride without a
ticket. Meanwhile, each of the people behind his back is supposed to illustrate
one of the stories behind the songs, solidifying this comprehensive panorama of
life in the Big Apple as forming a much more interesting, if not necessarily
much more wholesome, opposition to life on Sunset Boulevard.
The album quite consciously begins with a
Californian touch — not only is the message of ʽSay Goodbye To Hollywoodʼ
totally transparent already from the title, but it also chooses the rhythmics
and arrangement style of Phil Spector's and the Ronettes' ʽBe My Babyʼ for its
backbone: not coincidentally, the original song was recorded at the Gold Star
Studios in LA, even though both Phil Spector and the Ronettes were both from
the New York area, so this is as good a hint as any at Billy's «transition» —
bye-bye Hollywood, hello Manhattan.
But it's all fine and dandy with the symbolism,
what about the actual song? Well...
it's «okay». Decent imitation of Spector's wall-of-sound, big bombastic drums
and saxes and all, except Phil used these things to imitate romantic soaring of
the spirit, while Billy seems to imitate them just because he wants to. The repetitive
chorus of "say goodbye to Hollywood, say goodbye my baby" quickly
sticks in your head all right, but I have no idea what I am supposed to feel
about it. Laugh? Cry? Ache? Rejoice? For a good example of a tribute that is
quite spiritually true to Spector's vision, check out ʽDon't Answer Meʼ from
Alan Parsons' Ammonia Avenue; ʽSay
Goodbye To Hollywoodʼ, in comparison, is technically accomplished but
emotionally dead.
Not that it necessarily gets better even when
the song is quite emotionally alive: few things in this world are cornier than
ʽNew York State Of Mindʼ, where Billy channels about 50% Sinatra spirit and 50%
Ray Charles and, once again, ends up like a really cheap, but extremely
pretentious, shadow of both. It may be one of the most lyrically direct and slavering
anthems to the city ever written, but the lyrics are awfully crude and
straightforward, the melodic moves are too textbookishly predictable, and the
resulting love declaration really has all the potency of a birthday greetings
card bought in the nearest Five and Dime. It is too bad that the talents of sax
master Phil Woods, specially recruited by Billy to add depth and authenticity
to the song, are unable to save the song — it still sounds way too much like the
product of somebody's rashful decision to have himself his own ʽGeorgia On My
Mindʼ or die trying.
Unfortunately, I do not have anything better to
say about the rest of the songs. The only one I'd really care to hear again is
probably ʽAngry Young Manʼ, mainly due to its introductory ʽPreludeʼ section —
which arguably packs more composing ideas than the rest of the album in its
entirety, and provides the album's lightest, most adequate and simply-friendly
two minutes of entertainment. What follows, though, is an attempt at yet
another Deep Important Statement, in which our hero expresses profound sympathy
towards the collective Angry Young Man ("he's been stabbed in the back,
he's been misunderstood") while at the same time decisively distancing
himself from such a personality ("I believe I've passed the age / Of consciousness
and righteous rage"). It is very hard to refrain from snickering at lines
like "I once believed in causes too", though, looking back on Billy's
past and remembering Attila the Hun in the meat locker — does that count as one
of the causes? Look at the «angry young man» of Attila and, say, the «angry young man» of ʽMy Generationʼ or
ʽLondon's Burningʼ, then tell me who is really
an expert on the «age of righteous rage» and whose credentials are more
trustworthy.
And we have not even begun to mention the really awful songs on the record — such
as ʽJamesʼ, a tepid electric piano ballad that swaddles you sick, or ʽAll You
Wanna Do Is Danceʼ, which, seeing as how it is a song about New York in 1976,
should have been a disco track, but, for some reason, is really ska (taken much
too seriously once again for such a style). Here there is really no interesting
composing to speak of — but the tone and the message stay as intentionally
serious as everything else. The man is simply riding on his own wavelength,
overestimating his talents and insights to such a huge extent that he is simply
bound to get himself a fanbase, out
of all the people who regularly confuse style with substance. Throw in a bit of
orchestral bombast with ʽI've Loved These Daysʼ and a bit of «rock'n'roll
bombast» with the half-Elton, half-Springsteen ʽMiami 2017ʼ, and voilà, you are already a source of simplistic
inspiration for a massive audience, and ʽNew York State Of Mindʼ gets covered
by Barbra Streisand and Tony Bennett.
To be fair, Turnstiles was a serious commercial letdown for Billy, with sales
dropping quite radically from the level of his Californian records — it would
take the extra sophistication of The
Stranger for New York to finally accept his new streetlife serenader.
Musical life was rich and diverse in the Big Apple in 1976, way too colorful
for people to fall in droves for this third-rate piano pop pretending to major
artistry level. Unfortunately, this did not prevent the songs from eventually becoming
radio and concert staples: once Billy Joel became a household name, ʽNew York
State Of Mindʼ, ʽI've Loved These Daysʼ and ʽAngry Young Manʼ became a constant
presence in American life — and, for some reason, in a «rock» context at that,
despite really being a set of Broadway musical tunes.
As usual, «hatred» for this album is out of the
question: on the whole, Turnstiles is
not so much «godawful» as it is «useless», a record that has no reason to exist
in the presence of Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and, I am afraid to say, even
Bee Gees albums of the same era. And maybe I wouldn't have been so direct in
this judgement if it weren't for Billy's provocative pose on the album sleeve —
every time I take another look, it's like he's staring me directly in the face:
«Well? What do you think, really? Have I made it? Is it on the level? Are they
gonna let me past that turnstile? See, I've brought some friends with me,
they'll all vouch I'm a good guy, really! Honestly! Swear to God, I do
belong!» Come on now, Mr. Joel, you don't need to be trying that hard, really. Nothing against you
personally, but it gets irritating. I'd like to like this music, but I can't
stand that striped tie of yours, so a thumbs down it is.
Check "Turnstiles" (CD) on Amazon
Check "Turnstiles" (MP3) on Amazon
I always kind of dug NYSOM, probably because it's such a "Broadway" tune, and is so easy on the ears, if not the mind or heart. Ironically, I always thought his singing on it sounded like Clapton (at least on the lower notes). I also like "Summer", it's got a Jackson Browne feel to it, could've come right off of The Pretender (Again, Ironic).
ReplyDeleteI was talking with my older sister who was in high school when this came out, and Springsteen came up, and I gave her my standard assessment of "overrated, East Coast bar band rocker riding on the hype of Rolling Stone and the Times." A local phenomenon, as your old site states. But, if I attack "The Boss" for being overrated, pumped-up, and self-important, shouldn't I hold Billy to the same standard critique? Somehow, Bruce is the Baby Boomer Woody Guthrie and Billy is the Pop Pariah, at least in the press and "Conventional Wisdom." Paradoxically, I personally dislike the E Street Carny Parade and like Billy's "classy" singer-songwriter aspirations. I guess such is the power of Top 40 radio.
Anyway, I can't find it in my heart to hate on Billy. He really doesn't give me much choice with those "grumpy puppy eyes" of his, does he? And he goes to the effort of at least trying to ape Keith Emerson on Prelude/AYM, something no other pop singer-songwriter had to chutzpah to do at that time. And then he went all sci-fi/apocalyptic on Miami. All he needed to complete the story was zombies! Oh wait, those are his fans (myself included): "Brains, must have brains..." That would come on the next album...
I have never understood why someone who obviously dislikes an artist, tries to review their records.
ReplyDeleteWhy not just stick to the music you like, as I know in advance you don't like Billy Joel, your review doesn't really carry that much weight.
Regardless of your general opinion of these reviews, their "weight" certainly does not depend on whether or not I like the artist.
DeleteI have never understood why someone who obviously dislikes the concept of reviews, tries to read them.
DeleteI have never understood why someone who obviously has something to say would choose to be anonymous.
Delete