Billy Joel is a pop chameleon who grounds both his ballads and upbeat hits with unflinching storytelling. “Piano Man” was the sound of him translating his years as a struggling musician into a triumphant sing-along that no-one could resist, while “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” is virtually an entire musical theatre piece in one song, filled with memorable characters to boot. Joel's willingness over the years to take on everything from doo-wop to New Wave to R&B means that his catalogue runs deep with genre-jumping material, all of it graced with his lyrical finesse and powerful playing.