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

lol Taupin's best known non-EJ lyric is "We Built This City"

starship really had to go get outside help for that one huh.

fuckin lyrics
how do they work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnrSqZwT2pg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqg2rClfLIc&feature=related

Now you're posting Weird Al videos. Billy Joel wins again, my friend.

You'd better cool it off before you burn it out. You've got so much to do and only so many hours in a day.

lol Taupin's best known non-EJ lyric is "We Built This City"

and "These Dreams"!

hm, news to me!

good weird al vids

the deal with Bernie Taupin is he's kind of like what if language poetry met popular song. the only matter of import is whether the syllables sound awesome together when delivered by a good frontman, which they do. I don't doubt that if he put his mind to it, he could write a lyric consisting only of nonsense syllables that sounded good to him, and it'd still sound terrific once Elton John got hold of it.

He did, and that song was called "Nikita." It was terrible.

"Solar Prestige a Gammon"!

Taupin could write good lyrics when it suited him ("Hard Luck Stories," "Someone Saved...") but Elton didn't demand them.

so Bernie Taupin is like proto-Elizabeth Fraser

Yeah, except the Leonard Cohen and Talking Heads song have menacing music that matches the lyrical mode. They're not some hoaky serenade set to some ersatz Elton boilerplate.

i know, i was defending joel's lyrics against aero's "worst lyricist of all time" slam. personally, i like his tunes too. "menacing" can be great, but i can't imagine that "miami 2017" would be any more appealing if they were less cheesily anthemic.

i have no real problem with taupin as a lyricist, either. a lot of his stuff is cringe-inducingly schmaltzy, sure, but sometimes the shmaltz just plain works. i've always found "daniel" quite moving, and that's a product of the lyrics as much as of the music and performance.

^ not to say that i really admire taupin as a lyricist...

nor billy neither

In Praise Of... Billy Joel's "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Down On Broadway)"

Even though it's not on the greatest hits, "Summer Highland Falls" is my POO. I don't think he ever did something that good again--almost a one-off sadly. Songs in the Attic and Turnstiles (as well as The Stranger) are my go-to Billy.

Yeah "Songs In the Attic" is like an alternate "greatest hits."

IMO "Stranger" -> "52nd street" -> "songs in the attic" -> "glass houses" -> "nylon curtain" was a decent run, even though they all contain songs I hate, but I'd rather listen to a mix of my favorite 20 songs from those 5 albums than the greatest hits collections.

The thing is that Summer Highland Falls is basically a Ben Folds song with all of the smugness and immaturity taken out, and since I love Ben Folds but hate that side of him just like everybody else, that song is basically an ideal for me when it comes to piano-led pop.

Voted Allentown in this one.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

crap, never did vote in this - - - agggh!

Got it down to these:

Stranger
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
Movin' out (Anthony's Song)
Only the Good Die Young
Uptown Girl

Still feel like in a way "Uptown Girl" is my straight favorite out of those but it feels weird not to pick one from the "classic" string of albums. Ahhhhh jeez.

btw,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3ogFWISPuw

never knew this had a video. Don't think I've even listened to the song in close to ten years except maybe if I let the record keep playing and wasn't paying attention. Not as bad as I remember.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

wow...only 3 zeroes

Can I say I'm shocked by the result? I never knew "Allentown" really had a base of support anywhere. It sent a chill down my spine as a kid but it seems a little bit...heavyhanded and obvious? But I guess like I said above, dude's a populist and sometimes an unsubtle one, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Pretty great turnout!

Also - listening to Streetlife Serenade right now and really can't fathom having "The Entertainer" on this greatest hits. Don't think that's just being familiarity with the tracklist that we had growing up...I mean, I like the song a lot, it's just that it's so sonically removed from the other stuff. Really different vibe on the Los Angeles records.

Allentown and Movin' Out both the lead-off hitters on their respective albums.

Yeah, I don't think "Easy Money" really stood a shot.

Didn't see this poll at the time; the best song is clearly Movin Out.

This album, Graceland and the West Side Story soundtrack were the trifecta of childhood holiday car albums for me.

Ooh yay what great results! And I absolutley will concur to the 3 zeros. The Entertainer alone irritates the HELL out of me

she's got a way is incredibly lovely, no? must have been a poll malfunction.

veg, if you're out there, the listening thread needs your reaction to the "you're only human" video