― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 12 April 2004 18:48 (twenty years ago) link
His early stuff like "Captain Jack" and "Piano Man" is heinous '70s pop at its absolute nadir. This is why rock and roll is about guitars, not pianos, fuck pianos. "My Life" and "You May Be Right" are two of the most damning indictments of the yuppie generation I've ever heard, and I think the couplet "Don't get me wrong/I still belong" is as close to the true work of the Devil as my atheist soul is ever gonna hear.
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 00:20 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 00:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 00:23 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 00:25 (twenty years ago) link
what?
― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 00:33 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 00:34 (twenty years ago) link
DESTROY: everything he's done since. When he married Christie, he probably didn't realize they were the perfect real-life incarnation of Brenda and Eddie. She must have sucked up most of Billy's creative juices, because his albums from "The Bridge" onwards were inexplicably bad by any standard. The one exception, of course, is "Kontsert".
"Ain't it wonderful to be alive when the rock'n'roll plays?"
― Diego (from Italy), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:41 (nineteen years ago) link
Also Search songs like "Vienna" and "Only the Good Die Young", a song that he was threatened with DEATH for writing.
Something did happen to him once he married Christie Brinkley (the story about meeting her in a bar in Jamica and serendading her, Elle MacPherson, and Whitney Houston with piano songs is great.) The only song past 1984 that's any good would be "A Matter of Trust" which, as one person pointed out on another thread, has one of the strongest count-in's of any other rock song.
because he physically looks too much like an ugly Michael Keaton
I always thought that he looked like an ugly Joe Torre.
― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 27 September 2004 16:01 (nineteen years ago) link
And I've said it before, but it's worth repeating how much I love that oft-dissed & dismissed Attila album!
― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 27 September 2004 17:10 (nineteen years ago) link
What's the corollary? A *handsome* Billy Joel?
Maybe I'm too drunk at the moment to deal with these convolutions.
― MeKIS, Tuesday, 28 September 2004 05:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― 57 7th (calstars), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 20:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― 57 7th (calstars), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 20:27 (nineteen years ago) link
The man hath not an ounce of talent in his entire being.
― Burr (Burr), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 23:27 (nineteen years ago) link
Guilty pleasure: "For the Longest Time," his Doo Wop number, mid-'80s?
― shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 23:42 (nineteen years ago) link
Not as you define it, evidently.
― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 00:31 (nineteen years ago) link
― Mr. Snrub, Wednesday, 29 September 2004 00:57 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_12/billy.jpg
― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 02:41 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.oakridgeboys.com/Media/Boys_Billy_Joel.jpeg
Look, all I'm saying is that some of you all's anger could probably be placed somewhere else.
― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 03:08 (nineteen years ago) link
Billy Joel - Oh, the squandered genius!
― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 1 December 2005 19:50 (eighteen years ago) link
― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Thursday, 1 December 2005 19:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― pdf (Phil Freeman), Thursday, 1 December 2005 20:15 (eighteen years ago) link
D: "We Didn't Start..."
― Eazy (Eazy), Thursday, 1 December 2005 20:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 1 December 2005 20:46 (eighteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 1 December 2005 20:50 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:00 (eighteen years ago) link
(I did think that it was weird that she was talking about "twenty years ago".)
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:08 (eighteen years ago) link
― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:16 (eighteen years ago) link
― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:35 (eighteen years ago) link
Hi. Jody (not Beth) Rosen here. As it happens, no, I don't think Elvis is above the criticisms I level at Joel. He's even more pretentious in some respects, and even more of a promiscuous genre-hopping hack, particularly in the post-1980 phase of his career. I mainly invoked Costello in the piece in the context of my embarrassing high school epiphany, when the scales were lifted from my eyes and I realized how monstrously wack it was to worship Billy Joel.
I could go on for hours about Costello's problems -- biggest problem: despite his exalted reputation, his lyrics are pretty atrocious -- but I do think it's pretty inarguable that EC made AT LEAST four fantastic albums (I can think of eight that I love); AND he does have a certain toughness about him, at least on the early albums; AND he was an original, at least back in '77-'79. Whereas Joel has always been derivative and gauche.
Do love BJ's tunes, though -- esp. "Movin' Out." (Also, Billy's "Sometimes a Fantasy" is my third favorite Cars song.)
― Jody, Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:42 (eighteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:46 (eighteen years ago) link
I'd add this:
- My biggest problem with Costello's lyrics is that they're suffocatingly pseudo-poetical. The guy just can't say anything straight. (Notice that when he comes close to simplicity -- e.g., "I Want You" -- it's great.) The lyrics mostly worked on the first several albums, because they were just plain sharper, and more evocatively ambiguous. But they've gotten increasingly baroque and pretentious and just plain crap. Of course, on the best records the the lyrics don't really matter because his tunes are so great, and most importantly, because he has Bruce and Pete Thomas playing the shit out everything. Those guys are GODS.
― Jody, Thursday, 1 December 2005 21:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 1 December 2005 22:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 1 December 2005 22:15 (eighteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 1 December 2005 22:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 1 December 2005 22:32 (eighteen years ago) link
Which one?
― Edward Bax (EdBax), Friday, 2 December 2005 02:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― danielle the animal steel (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 17 January 2006 21:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― A Radio Picture (Rrrickey), Friday, 5 January 2007 01:43 (seventeen years ago) link
― A Radio Picture (Rrrickey), Friday, 5 January 2007 01:44 (seventeen years ago) link
― PappaWheelie MMCMXL (PappaWheelie 2), Friday, 5 January 2007 02:44 (seventeen years ago) link
― Pleasant Plains, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 16:56 (seventeen years ago) link