{Album Pick}

In an early episode of the show 30 Rock, an episode called The Aftermath, Tracey Jordan steals a yacht and invites the cast of the fictional show, The Girlie Show aboard for a party. Jenna begins to belt out a song during the height of the fun. "Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood..." she begins.

Another character interrupts her mid-verse to quip "Is that a real song?"

Yes, it is a real song.

If you Google the phrase "New York State of Mind lyrics" the first two links yielded by the search are a song by Jay-Z called "Empire State of Mind" followed by "N.Y. State of Mind" by Nas. The 3rd link will take you to a lesser-known and less-popular song by Billy Joel, from his 1976 album Turnstiles.

"New York State of Mind" is an important song in Billy Joel's repertoire, off the album Turnstiles, from an early career sometimes unappreciated by the casual Joel fan. 

Turnstiles is a soulful Billy Joel album that was quickly overshadowed by the release of the much-acclaimed album The Stranger(1977). Turnstiles is an album full of tracks of reminiscence fueled by geography. Joel matches locations and events of his life in many of the songs and makes the listener connect their own placement in life with the literal placement in their lives.

A few of the tracks on this album like "James" and "Prelude/Angry Young Man" are not fueled by geography, but are reminiscent in their dealings with past relationships and lost ambitions.

Most tracks display the soulful pianist Joel once was, before his talent became awash in his later pop hits.

This is an album worth listening to several times.

I did not like this album the first time I listened to it. The 16-year-old me wanted to believe all of Joel's songs were as easy to like as "She's Got a Way" and "Uptown Girl" (WOW-OH-OH-OH-OHHHHH UPTOWN GIRL!) So, I listened to Turnstiles a bunch of times. Over the course of 8 years I actually wore out the compact disc and it ended up lost somewhere in the black abyss that was my Jeep.

Moments of this album are actually silly; even as I listen to the tracks in solitary I cannot help but feel a bit embarrassed by the dated-70s-synthesizer sound in "James." 

And many critics have also deemed Joel's songs "silly."

Joel's outlandish success and undeniable popularity have done nothing to help the musician's credibility. Even his recent designation as "the first non-classical musician to be inducted into Steinway Hall" has not garnered much recognition from serious critics, even if it has won celebration from serious fans.

As Chuck Klosterman famously quipped, in an article for The New York Times, "Joel could smash a piano with a ball-peen hammer for 75 minutes and release it as a live album, and it would still sell remarkably well."

Therein lies the problem with Joel. His early album, Turnstiles, and the talent it represents was overlooked once he began to gain designation as a pop artist. 

In the end, to many critics, Joel's career does not deserve credibility or respect.

To me, Turnstiles will always deserve a second look. I do not believe Joel's career can simply be reduced to a handful of witty remarks.

(Below, a video of Joel performing "Prelude/Angry Young Man" in the 1980s. The video is rife with silliness, including a ridiculous synthesizer solo and incredibly strange drummer...But this video also speaks volumes of Joel's talent as a piano player.)