IT'S BETTER THAN DRINKIN' ALONE: The Official ILM Track-by-Track BILLY JOEL Listening Thread

Should I get a Target Stanley Cup
And some wide-flared J. Crew pants?

If this new single begins with him taking a really deep breath before launching into EARTHQUAKE SERIES, NO MORE WALL, GEORGE BUSH, PANAMA...

The new single should begin with...

HUWUNN
TWOOOO
HWUN TWOO THREEE FAWW

and then break into a very slow ballad, Monty Python style

So, on a BJ interview with Howard Stern this week, he says that “Big Shot” is basically written from Mick Jagger’s point of view. Suddenly all the vocal exaggerations make sense — he’s a Brill Building guy writing something Jagger could sing, and acts out the part doing it.

Another "Mick" song is "You May Be Right"

I saw her today at the reception
Dom Perignon in her hand and a spoon up her nose

^ shit, wow, that's the first time I have noticed the intersection between those lyrics. I might need to lie down for a bit and process this information

is it time to turn the lights back on in this thread?

did i wait too long?

It kinda works for me except that the vocal doesn't sound like Billy at all somehow. If you told me it was an AI synthesis I would probably believe it and think it was mildly impressive.
I like that it's somewhat different to his previous stuff, and frankly it must have been pretty hard to break that long a silence (oddities notwithstanding).

yeah i wonder about that vocal too. it sounds like billy to me, but not 2024 billy

i don't hate it, but i think the arrangement sounds like AI too (i wouldn't have minded just piano, and i definitely wouldn't have minded billy's live band), and it really really could have used an actual chorus.

I like it, but man, it really reminds me of another song that I can't put my finger on.

Could have used an actual melody. I figure his voice must be Auto-Tuned to hell(?)

I like it, but man, it really reminds me of another song that I can't put my finger on.

End of the Road by Boyz II Men? Because that's what is somehow getting mixed up in my head.

I think his voice sounds like 2024 Billy, he sounds older here and of course the studio sands away the rough edges from live performances. did detect auto-tune as well which tends to 'youngify' voices.

The orchestra feels unnecessary, but then I realize we're talking about one of the last of the stadium acts. The piano dynamics would really stand out without all the backing.

Feels pre-Glass Houses in a good way. Maybe his first song without a "rock" band arrangement since then (though I'm not going back to the last few albums to check)?

since when did he use co-writers? I don't care, but it's striking.

I missed that there were co-writers (hadn't read about it until just now). Interesting that it involves the same guy who wrote Pussycat Dolls' legit-good "I Hate This Part." Guessing we'll hear at some point how this song was built.

my guess is the older you get, more time you spend on the toilet and sleeping, less time to write

I like it, but man, it really reminds me of another song that I can't put my finger on.

The changes and orchestration remind me of Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry"...

Which of the four of them wrote the line, "I see you now / As we're laying in the darkness"? Is the narrator wearing night-vision goggles(?)

Used the flashlight on his phone

It's his muse he can see in the darkness.

since when did he use co-writers?

i think this is more a case of the co-writers using him. if
i've got the story straight, they approached him, unsolicited, with an unfinished song and asked him to help top it off.

Hope they put bread in his jar

I think I thought it was "Only Time Will Tell" by Asia, but that's it's squirmier than that.

First impression: better than "Now and Then," but not exactly grabbing me. Hate what I'm hearing as auto-tuning, and the cheesy "arena drums plus strings" production. The actual song seems fine if not special - I could see it being a bit of a grower if it closed out an album, at the tail end of a mixed bag of pastiches on Side B.

yeah it’s a bit “Where’s the Orchestra” isn’t it

This damn song has been stuck in my head since the Grammys, and I’m not happy about it…

So apparently "Vienna" is having a moment? My 16-year-old daughter is working up a cover of it. It's not my favorite key but I will get there somehow.

i finally heard the new song & i like it well enough. enough to be interested in hearing more, anyway.

is Freddy Wexler any relation to Jerry Wexler? Freddy’s wikipedia entry starts at 2008 & eschews any real biographical info

BJ likes the disposable vapes apparently

So apparently "Vienna" is having a moment?

it's his tiktok hit!

It’s a good song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOf6CMbHPuA

Thru the ages

That was all right, but man, Billy. Don't give Elton any ideas.

i really really hate this guy and his music but ... i heard "Sleeping with the Television on" and didn't recognize it, so had to Shazam. really interesting to read everybody's thoughts on it here. i haven't listened to everything the man's made, but i agree this is a standout track, probably the best think i've ever heard from him. the rink organ is a shame but it's a pretty solid little power pop thing otherwise. can hear the comparisons to Joe Jackson but i think mostly it sounds like Squeeze in terms of the composition

killer song. my first karaoke performance coming out of the pandemic closure years!

dunno if this was ever posted, but I loved this story about the struggle to make Piano Man a hit: https://keithyates.com/the-time-a-stiff-caught-fire/

Some might say a struggle best left alone

wow, that was quite a read. had no idea it played out like that at all.

Sometimes the authorities say,
“Best leave this one alone”

It's better than leaving alone

That was a great read!

did anyone watch the televised MSG 100 concert?

watching now, idk i guess i’m
a dork but it’s kinda nice

Vienna was lovely <3

That "Piano Man" story is readymade for a Netflix treatment. The scrappy group of Fresno longhairs who made Billy Joel a star

I don't know if this belongs here, or on the Vampire Weekend thread, or on the Christgau thread, but there's an amusing pre-VW blog post by a young Ezra Koenig defending Billy Joel's honor against the snide attacks of Mr. Christgau, which segues into a rant about the pointlessness of negative reviews in general:

https://internetvibes.blogspot.com/2005/10/critical-beatdown.html

ha yeah I remember it! I think we discussed it a few years ago.