Billy Joel C/D?

Naming your greatest hits collection, which was only ever released as a single package, Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2 - Classic or Dud?

Lonesome, lonesome men always inspire devotion, silly.

Mr.Diamond will be glad to know that since the first message of his that caught my attention was him posting several of his album covers in the smuggest covers ever thread, my mental image of him is Elvis Costello.

Until fairly recently, I took a pretty hard line against Billy Joel, but I have to admit that I like some of his songs. I also hate an awful lot of them, certainly more of them than I like. I find his persona a big problem much of the time. I don't trust him, and I'm certainly not interested in his advice. Most of his talen is wasted. "Just the Way You Are" and "Honesty" are two other songs I like. Maybe because I heard it shortly before I transformed into an adolescent music snob, but I think I wouldn't mind hearing 52nd Street occasionally, or at least maybe half of it. I wouldn't want to defend it, but I kind of like "She's Always a Woman."

But the songs that annoy me, annoy me overwhelmingly and unequivocally.

Good Billy Joel songs: "Allentown"

Good Cure songs: all of them except "Push", "A Thousand Hours", "Closedown", "Return" and "Mint Car"

Anyway, yes, the song about the high school sweethearts is Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, which is a great song for the bizarre oopmah music middle bit about his sweet romantic teenage nights. The fast part is reminiscent of certain Ben Folds songs, take as you will.

The best Billy Joel song is Only The Good Die Young.

Strange but true!

See now, I consider this song to be full of threatening spite and anger. A perfect example of why Joel really rubs me the wrong way. On the surface is this snappin' beat, but closer examination reveals a real sinister meanness.

I mean look at these lyrics:

"The demon in your mind will rape you in your bed at night?"
"The moon is red and bleeding?"
"All the evil seem to live forever?"
"Only the good die young?"

waitaminit, that's iron maiden... here we go:

"don't let me wait"
"locked you away"
"Only the good die young"
"I run with a dangerous crowd"
"Only the good die young"
"You didn't count on me"
"they say there's a heaven"
"Some say it's better but I say it ain't"
"The sinners are much more fun"
"Don't let me wait"

I mean, it's this threat, really, couched in this kind of Greaser back-story vernacular. Liek West Side Story, on via some long-island wino. Like "Uptown Girl," which for me is the most henious of his songs.

Obviously, I have little bit of a complex with this. And I'm intentionally going over the top. But even "Always A Woman" makes me uncomfortable now, that stereotypically "fragile" song about women "changing their minds," gives me the chills just thinking about it.

I'd have to call Dud on BJ, with the possible exception of "Say Goodbye To Hollywood."

Three times now "Uptown Girl" has come up on my weekly walking-on-bus-or-at-computer-lab mixtape within five minutes of being on this thread. The power!

I can. Because I hate the bastard thing too. Take "Just Like Heaven" and "Friday I'm in Love" and squeeze all the joy and/or intriguing angst out of them and leave a limp sucked orange wedge. Then stick it in the trash. Behold! "Mint Car."

"The Perfect Girl" has that fantastic synth riff plus the ultra-euphoric "I THINK I'M FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU" part; it's easily the best song on side 4 of _Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me_.

"Friday I'm In Love" has that killer guitar riff and one the best bridges The Cure ever produced, mixed in with OTM observations about the prosiac magic of love ("It's such a gorgeous sight/To see you eat in the middle of the night").

"Mint Car" has a god-awful rinky-dink guitar riff fluttering around some DEEPLY tenuous screeching that can't even be saved by blatant Daan-pandering in the shape of egregious double entendres (aka the third verse). Also, it's too slow.

"The Lovecats" is still their best twee song, anyway. ("A Chain Of Flowers" might be their best melancholy twee song.)

I believe I should end this post with a Geir-like :)

Cure album tracks kick major ass. BOW BEFORE THE GENIUS OF "World War", "Another Day", "Secrets", "The Figurehead", "Siamese Twins", "Faith", "All Cats Are Grey", "At Night", "Piggy In The Mirror", "Dressing Up", "Shake Dog Shake", "The Top", "Kyoto Song", "The Blood", "The Kiss", "All I Want", "How Beautiful You Are...", "One More Time", "The Snakepit", "Like Cockatoos", "The Perfect Girl", "Last Dance", "The Same Deep Water As You", "Prayers For Rain", "Open", "End", "From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea", "Want", "Treasure", "Bare", "Out Of This World", "The Loudest Song" and "The Last Day Of Summer"!