Composer-performer Billy Joel's new album ["Piano Man"] has several striking bands, among them the title number, a really brilliant piece of work. Piano Man is a highly dramatic Billy Joel 1949– Barry Schultz/Retna Ltd.song, beautifully constructed and performed, about the patrons of an O'Neill-type bar, each sunk in dreams of glory about his future: the piano man himself, who hopes to be a movie star; the insurance man convinced that he is a novelist; and many others caught in the web of self-delusion. It's very strong stuff…. Nothing else here comes up to that song or performance, but there are moments in Captain Jack and in Ain't No Crime that pulsate with the same intensity.

At the moment Joel has two problems: the similarity of approach in performance and orchestration from band to band, and an occasional inability to pare down the central thought of his lyrics...