Say Goodbye To POLLywood - Billy Joel Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II, THE POLL

Xgau I think compares that one to Rick Wakeman, presumably just because of the Minimoog. I like it.

Wish this collecion was more singles-oriented than it was - several good ones missing, and I never had any use for "Captain Jack" or "Goodnight Saigon". I'm gonna vote for the McCartneyish "Don't Ask Me Why" - for all I know, Joel got the idea for the Latinish touches from "Goodnight Tonight".

OMG - "You're Only Human" - the suicide song! It was so bad it couldn't even make it on an album proper or a Danny Devito soundtrack!

Hate to say it, but about half of this album is pretty great. The other half is total and absolute, irredeemable shit.

Pretty much BJ's career in a nutshell there.

Also, "An Innocent Man" should have been on this compilation, while one of those shit songs should have been removed.

snoball otm

and I didnt even include volume III

"iiiiiin the miiiiidle of the niiiiiight"

"An Innocent Man" might have been the best song on here, even

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPZ68Uc50iY

jesus, had completely forgotten that this even existed. so wretched. proof that the innocent man era should be destroyed.

Lou Reed: "I still am into doowop. When I can find it. I was amazed, we were in a restaurant the other day and they were playing this Billy Joel thing, where he does all the voices as acapella doowop, it was really good, I wish he'd do a lot more like that."

Lou otm, voted "The Longest Time"

I might end up voting for JTWYA
Because my heart is corn dipped in cheez-whiz

ohhhh Longest Time is pretty rad though

fuck you guys, I'm so confused!

god is it too late to hope for a Lou Reed/Billy Joel collab too?

Volume III is probably the least essential greatest hits album ever.

Least greatest, least essential, and most vomit inducing

xxp I think that there's a lot in common between LR and BJ, not least that people are still interested in them for reasons other than their music. Joel putting tracks on Rock Band just to spite a critic, for example.

I mean...jeez talk about pass the bucket

1 "Keeping the Faith"
2. "An Innocent Man"
3. "A Matter of Trust"
4. "Baby Grand"
5."This Is the Time"
6. "Leningrad"
7. "We Didn't Start the Fire"
8. "I Go to Extremes"
9. "And So It Goes"
10. "The Downeaster 'Alexa'"
11. "Shameless"
12. "All About Soul (Remix)"
13. "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"
14. "The River of Dreams"
15. "To Make You Feel My Love (B. Dylan)"
16. "Hey Girl (Goffin & King)"
17. "Light as the Breeze (L. Cohen)"

that whole Stormfront period was just uggggghhh so gross. I swear half the middle-age dudes I saw in that period were all wearing ponytails and Stormfront *sweaters* blehhh

I found this while I was looking up Captain Jack and it made me lolol, I had no idea this happened

The song entered the news again in 2000 when it was mistakenly used during Hillary Clinton's announcement that she would be campaigning for U.S. Senate. According to an NPR report on worst campaign songs, a staffer notes that the playing of "Captain Jack" was a mistake. It was played from the Billy Joel compilation CD Greatest Hits Volume 1, and the song intended to be played was "New York State of Mind", which was track five on the CD.[23] The Clinton staffer inadvertently played track two, which was "Captain Jack".[23] Her presumed opponent, Rudolph Giuliani, who ended up not running for the Senate, criticized the song's use because of its alleged glorification of drugs. Giuliani even read the lyrics to the song in a live press conference.[23] Joel replied in a statement, "There are a lot of important issues facing the voters in this Senate race. Is a politician's interpretation of a song I wrote nearly 30 years ago an issue to the voters of New York state? I do not think so."[24]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t-Sw6YZGi0

Billy is the root
Billy is the table

I'd like to see Billy hit "Sister Ray," Attila-style

Here's how corny I am - on my first ever trip to New York (a mere 5 years ago) I listened to New York State of Mind at least once a day on my ipod.

(however I should note I also drove Mr Veg crazy every time we walked somewhere and he'd ask what direction to go, I'd start singing 'New york new york it's a wonderful down, broadway's up and the battery's down'. He didn't appreciate what a great memory tool it is! Maybe bc I sing like a drain)

If I ever go to New York I will definitely do that.

I don't care what anyone says about that song, it SOUNDS like new york to me.

God, I fucking hate most Billy Joel. That said, you can't really grow up on Long Island without knowing most of his hits by heart and there are a couple I really love.

Movin' out (Anthony's Song)
Only the Good Die Young
My Life
Big Shot
You May Be Right
Tell Her About It
Uptown Girl
and
The Longest Time

Wait, maybe I don't detest BJ as much as I thought. :/

http://cdn.idolator.com/assets/resources/2007/09/billyjoel.gif

I was gonna say, that's a pretty long list ENBB

ONE OF US
ONE OF US

earworms gonna GETCHOOO

And I still know every single word to We Didn't Start the Fire.

me too
also I Go To Extremes, River Of Dreams, and All About Soul

but not by choice, it's just a terrible sickness I have

Some non-singles I like a lot: All For Leyna, Zanzibar...

it's funny how automatic the "i hate billy joel!" thing is, even from people who know and love quite a bit of his music. who else from the 70s/80s is in this boat and unrehabilitated by hipster appreciation? phil collins got rescued a few years back...

I HATE I go to Extremes though lol @ Lohan's tattoo with the lyrics from it. River of Dreams makes me want to vom. I don't know the last one. Are they all off the same album? I have never owned anything by him. I know all this stuff from the radio. I'm serious about Long Island radio playing tons of BJ. It's ridiculous.

2. "An Innocent Man"
3. "A Matter of Trust"

See, they could've just done Volume III as a 7" single.

Like, I've crossed the Throgs Neck Bridge and heard one of his songs within minutes on multiple ocassions. My entire senior class broke out into a chorus of Scenes from an Italian Restaurant at my prom more than 15 years after its release for Christ's sake!

Australian radio played the hell out of him for some reason, as well as my Mum playing his greatest hits all the time.

all About soul is terrible, I won't even put a youtube up, it'll ruin your life.

Phil otm

Where is Ramzi? He could back me up on this.

However, I'm not gonna lie and try to front that I don't do a little seat dancing if I happen to come across "Only the Good Die Young" on the radio.

phil collins got rescued a few years back...

It's very easy for hipsters to be ironic about liking Phil Collins. Phil wants everyone to like him anyway, he's so eager to please. There's nothing ironic about Joel, and he doesn't care whether people like him or not. That's too real for hipsters.

that is some questionable armchair psychology right there

what the fuck are you on about, snoball?

snoball doesn't care whether we like him, don't play into his game

I don't care what anyone says about that song, it SOUNDS like new york to me.
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, April 9, 2012

I've lived in NYC since 1986 (I'm sure there are ILMers who were born here, etc, etc) but the sad thing is, that song really did capture the old New York (pre-Bloomberg and Giuliani), but that New York is gone now...it's become a tourist trap/rich person playground with hardly any local color left, now populated by morons from _____ who moved here after watching "Friends". I can't even listen to that song anymore for that reason, makes me too sad.

:(

what's wrong with "Friends"? Is it the theme song?

I think its their haircuts iirc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRb92CDLlq0

3. "A Matter of Trust"

oh hey, had completely forgotten about that one. on second thought, don't destroy everything after the nylon curtain, just most of it. great fucking song. the phrase "some love is just a lie of the mind" gets stuck in my head big time.

if the poll had included the other greatest hits I'd include "A Matter of Trust" (is that really Joel on guitar? The Bridge credits don't say so) and, er, Garth Brooks doing "Shameless."

Matter Of Trust is pretty good

2. "An Innocent Man"

this is just ghastly though. starts out nice enough, but dives off a cliff before a minute's up.

"An Innocent Man" is basically a good Joe Jackson ballad.