On May of this year (2026), Turnstiles turned 50. One of my fave albums of his, Turnstiles celebrates Joel coming back to New York after a sojourn in California. Understandable, California was THE place to be for many musicians, but Joel seemed dissatisfied with the place.
New York State of Mind (my dad’s fave song of his) was a celebration of his homecoming. A love letter to the big apple, only matched by Alicia Keys ultrahit, Empire State of mind (my fave song of hers).
I’ve never owned an original copy of Turnstiles. My first copy was at a charity shop in Sheffield, and I parted with that copy, amongst other vinyls, when I had to leave in december of 2013, inheriting to my friend Beth. In retrospect, maybe I shouldn’t have burdened her with such boomer stuff.
My second copy of Turnstiles I acquired at Epoch Records, a small record store in Austin in March of 2014, during SXSW. I also found a well worn copy of U2’s The Unforgettable Fire, their best 80s album.
But back to the album, or else you’ll skip these paragraphs! Say Goodbye to Hollywood is such a declaration of intent as an opener. A sorta riff on The Ronettes’ Be my baby, Joel burns a few bridges on the way out, but still acquiesces that he’s found friends that will last forever.
New York State of mind is a true declaration of love from Billy Joel. A song that romanticises both Greyhound buses and the Hudson river is working miracles and he pulls it off effortlessly. The piano sways and slides with the ease of a well-travelled journeyman through the alleys and jennels of the city. Billy Joel was aiming for a standard, and you know what? I think he pulled it off.
The California disillusionment felt by Joel comes out with sharpened axes and poisoned daggers in Prelude/Angry Young Man. The frantic key attack, akin to the insane pressure in Los Angeles, that serves as Prelude tells you all he wants to say. Liberty DeVitto’s drumming is excellent, almost on par of a prog rock band of the day, while still keeping with his jazzy virtuoso demeanor we all love him for.
Strangely enough, I see this song and Dead Kennedy’s Holiday in Cambodia as sister songs. Both take aim at young idealists with a superficial knowledge of the world. The young dude that has an unattainable view which hopes to exert on the world. It won’t happen and it will turn him into the proverbial angry old man Joel condemns him to be. Such is the destiny of the idealist with no room to spare.
Although Turnstiles wasn’t the hit Billy Joel hoped it to be, he continued forward. The result of his hard work yielded The Stranger, another album of his that I consider a bonafide classic. But that’s for another day.
-Sam J. Valdés López
