[The] model for Glass Houses is the Beatles (circa 1965, with stylistic updates), and it is probably the best Beatles album since Abbey Road and certainly the best Billy Joel album ever…. The songs on Glass Houses are so distinct and catchy individually, and they fall together so cohesively, that you just want to play the record over and over to learn the songs and then play it over and over to sing along.

Now, I don't feel that way about too many albums, especially Billy Joel albums. Joel is some people's pet peeve; they consider him a pushy poseur. That's never bothered me—if anything, it puts him in the company of most rock giants (Jagger and Dylan, to name two). My beef was always that his records weren't good enough. For every catchy pop song or ballad I liked ("Until the Night," "Just the Way You Are...