Piano Man
by Billy Joel

Piano Man by Billy Joel
Year: 1973
Release date: 1973-11-09
Overall rank: 2,764th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 230 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1973 (53rd)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (497th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,764th)

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Billy Joel – Piano Man LP Record 1973 Columbia
Condition: Used


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Billy Joel Piano Man vinyl LP
Condition: Used


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SEALED BILLY JOEL Piano Man COLUMBIA PC-32544 Vintage US Pressing Complete LP
Condition: New

$158.98


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Billy Joel bestography

Piano Man is ranked 6th best out of 26 albums by Billy Joel on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Billy Joel is The Stranger which is ranked number 232 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 6,827.

Billy Joel album bestography « Higher ranked (2,657th)
Turnstiles
This album (2,764th)
Piano Man
Lower ranked (3,934th) »
The Nylon Curtain

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Piano Man track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Piano Man rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,764th | 1970s rank: 497th | 1973 rank: 53rd
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026lanadeleswiftTop 47 Music Albums of 197343/471
2026SiromynianTop 37 Music Albums of 197326/372
2026 RomanelliMy Overall Chart: 1201-130073/100 -
2026culwinTop 35 Music Albums of 19734/355
2026 videoheadcleanervideoheadcleaner's 201-30090/100 -
2026stevengnzTop 100 Music Albums of 197327/1004
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 70 Music Albums of 19736/705
2026 CharlieBarleyMy Next 100 Favourite Songs 101-20021/100 -
2026fabm0Platinum Zone 32 America Usa 497/100 -
2026MoondanceTop 100 Music Albums of 197310/1005
2026culwinTop 100 Music Albums of the 1970s54/100 -
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of 197380/1001
2026 HeliosTop 60 Music Albums of 197321/603
2026fabm0Platinum year 197313/59 -
2026joathomeTop 41 Music Albums of 197317/413
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Music Albums of the 1970s54/100 -
2026 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of 197373/1001
2026 Robert Anton WilsonTop 99 Music Albums of the 1970s76/99 -
2026cicadelicSounds End Of Year List 197411/21 -
2026 Patman360Top 100 Music Albums of 197339/1003
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 169
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 561
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Piano Man collection

Piano Man ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 230 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 230 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
95/100
 
04/25/2026 22:56 Robert Anton Wil  Ratings distribution  1,14184/100
 
60/100
 
04/02/2026 09:17 Olli  Ratings distribution  7,14063/100
 
75/100
 
03/21/2026 20:47 markl73  Ratings distribution  60178/100
 
60/100
 
01/24/2026 19:16 Bluedog  Ratings distribution  16573/100
 
65/100
 
12/09/2025 01:42 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  9,58570/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 12% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.4/100, a mean average of 73.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.2.

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Piano Man comments

Showing all 9 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
95/100
From 04/27/2024 18:51 | #303225
An excellent album. No fillers here. Worth listening to multiple times. Tracks 2, 3, 5, and 10 are my personal favorites. 9.5/10!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/16/2023 14:17 | #297016
Great songs, but it also has some misfires.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/05/2022 16:06 | #278627
Mi disco favorito de Billy Joel (y tiene unos cuantos excelentes). Piano Man me parece una canción memorable.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/20/2021 08:33 | #266534
It might initially appear that one song carries the whole album, but actually there is more to this than meets the eye (ear in this case).
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/28/2017 05:53 | #186513
Very strong album with a good opener Travelin Prayer followed up the classic Piano Man. You're My Home and Billy the Kid are lesser classics and finishes with the rocker Captain Jack. The other songs are pretty good too. One of his best.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/05/2016 17:38 | #163365
An excellent Billy joel album. Any record that has a song as good as the title track on it, is going to well worth listening to. Piano man, is probably Joel's most celebrated song, and it's easy to see why, inspired by his nights as a barroom singer, it's fantastic. Other great tracks are, the wonderful, ain't no crime, the lovely, you're my home, and the penultimate track, somewhere along the line. The ballad of Billy the kid, is one of Joel's most enjoyable tracks, but the best song, after the title track, is the glorious, captain Jack. A superb song. Piano man, is not Billy Joel's best album, but it's certainly in his top five. Very good.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 01/31/2015 17:52 | #133423
Yeah, what Bork said.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 04/14/2010 02:07 | #10568
Strong piano soft rock, although not as consistent as its follow-up. Piano Man is a classic and other tracks worth mentioning include Travelin' Prayer and Captain Jack. Unfortunately the mid-section does not quite hold up.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (3 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/23/2009 03:24 | #7817
An unfortunate case of death by radio play. This album was a real stunner when it was first released. Used to listen to it on FM radio but couldn't buy it because of drug references.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1973
1. The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
2. Innervisions by Stevie Wonder
3. Houses Of The Holy by Led Zeppelin
4. Selling England By The Pound by Genesis
5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John
6. Quadrophenia by The Who
7. Band On The Run by Paul McCartney & Wings
8. Aladdin Sane by David Bowie
9. Raw Power by Iggy And The Stooges
10. Future Days by Can
11. (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd) by Lynyrd Skynyrd
12. Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield
13. For Your Pleasure by Roxy Music
14. Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock
15. Closing Time by Tom Waits
16. The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle by Bruce Springsteen
17. Berlin by Lou Reed
18. Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye
19. Artaud by Pescado Rabioso
20. Larks' Tongues In Aspic by King Crimson