Turnstiles / The Stranger / 52nd Street is the Star Wars original trilogy
It feels right to group these albums into a trilogy because they are the ones where the touring band becomes the full band on the record and to me they are clearly the best. I am fairly new but seriously obsessed with Billy Joel and I just realized how well this “trilogy” maps to the original Star Wars trilogy.
Turnstiles = A New Hope: The band really comes together and makes a raw, scrappy masterpiece that puts them on the map. It has a rough charm that will always be special.
The Stranger = The Empire Strikes Back: Darker, deeper, more complex. Nearly perfect followup, widely considered the masterpiece.
52nd Street = Return of the Jedi: Damn good, technically even more dazzling but just slightly less flawless than its predecessor, a bit lighter and more playful in tone; still a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy.
That is all, I just wanted to share this revelation because (embarrassingly) I am just now really getting into Billy Joel 🙂.