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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: PlaysLikeMyung on December 28, 2009, 09:09:26 PM
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All hail the great pianist Billy Joel! He is hands down one of the most amazing composers in the world, and he can handle a piano like nobody's business.
Who else here is a fan? I know there's at least one other person here who likes him
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Love Billy Joel! :tup I've been lucky enough to see him in concert 3 times so far. I think his discography is very consistent too... Cold Spring Harbor, Turnstiles, and The Stranger are probably my top three favorites.
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Been a fan for as long as I can remember. Most of his 70s albums are very good, and his 80s records all have their fair share of good songs, too; some good stuff in the 90s, as well.
"Allentown" is easily one of my favorite songs ever.
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Seeing him this year with Elton John was so damn fantastic.
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I've got a few dozen of his songs and love 'em
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I live on Long Island (in Billy Joel central actually - the next town over from me is Cold Spring Harbor), so its pretty much mandatory that I be a fan. Billy Joel was probably the first musician I was ever really an actual "fan" of... been listening to him for as far back as I can remember. (I still have vague memories of being in elementary school when "We Didn't Start the Fire" came out, and the most impressive thing anybody could imagine doing at that time was memorizing all of the lyrics).
One of my all-time favorites (and a tragically overlooked song) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qSNcgJtqzw
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Seeing him this year with Elton John was so damn fantastic.
This. The concert was by far one of the best I have ever been to. The man is one of the better showmen of all time and really really is just amazing. What sucked though, is that I did not get to hear my favorite song by him. I mean, I know the man has a thousand hits but how can you not play Captain Jack!?!?!? That sucked. But it still was an amazing show. Watching Elton John and Billy Joel play Piano Man to a stadium of more than 65,000 people, was just actually tear jerker worthy. He was also the surprise guest when I saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert. Warching him play You Could Be Right, Only the Good Die Young, New York State of Mind, and Born to Run, all with Bruce Springsteen himself, was just...there are no words.
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I have to be honest, I've never really listened to his stuff. The only song I'm particularly familiar with is And So It Goes, and only because of the glorious choral arrangement done by The Kings Singers.
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One of my all-time favorites (and a tragically overlooked song) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qSNcgJtqzw
That is easily my favourite song of his.
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I have to be honest, I've never really listened to his stuff. The only song I'm particularly familiar with is And So It Goes, and only because of the glorious choral arrangement done by The Kings Singers.
*smacks*
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I have to be honest, I've never really listened to his stuff. The only song I'm particularly familiar with is And So It Goes, and only because of the glorious choral arrangement done by The Kings Singers.
*smacks*
:lol Hey, I never said I had no desire to check it out, just that I haven't gotten round to it. :P
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I have to be honest, I've never really listened to his stuff. The only song I'm particularly familiar with is And So It Goes, and only because of the glorious choral arrangement done by The Kings Singers.
*smacks*
:lol Hey, I never said I had no desire to check it out, just that I haven't gotten round to it. :P
Get "The Stranger" first. It's the 'must-have' Billy Joel album
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I have to be honest, I've never really listened to his stuff. The only song I'm particularly familiar with is And So It Goes, and only because of the glorious choral arrangement done by The Kings Singers.
*smacks*
:lol Hey, I never said I had no desire to check it out, just that I haven't gotten round to it. :P
I'd suggest you start right now with the clip I posted earlier (I'll even post it again so you don't have to scroll up! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qSNcgJtqzw)
Or go with a more recent performance of another one of my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoiuLxO6cgA
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Billy Joel is one of those rare artists whose music has this uncanny way of conjuring a visual picture or vignette in my mind. His music is very much "grounded" in the vagaries of daily life.
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I'm honestly not that big a Billy Joel fan, but he does have some songs that I absolutely love. "New York State of Mind" immediately comes to mind.
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Angry Young Man is an absolutely amazing song.
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I live on Long Island (in Billy Joel central actually - the next town over from me is Cold Spring Harbor), so its pretty much mandatory that I be a fan. Billy Joel was probably the first musician I was ever really an actual "fan" of... been listening to him for as far back as I can remember. (I still have vague memories of being in elementary school when "We Didn't Start the Fire" came out, and the most impressive thing anybody could imagine doing at that time was memorizing all of the lyrics).
One of my all-time favorites (and a tragically overlooked song) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qSNcgJtqzw
I feel like the whole Cold Spring Harbor album is really overlooked. Sure, it was his debut and not as strong as some of his later material, but a lot of the songs on there are simply brilliant.... especially Shes Got A Way and Tomorrow is Today.
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^^^ Apparently the lyrics to "Tomorrow is Today" are based on a suicide note he wrote when he tried to kill himself.
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"Well we're lving here in Allentown" :neverusethis:
Seriosuly, I adore Billy Joel. I own nearly all his albums and know way too many of his songs. He's the only reason I'm jealous of my brother for anything at all; my brother plays the piano. :p
Also, listening to him actually makes me want to learn how to play the harmonica, like in Piano Man or the Ballad of Billy the Kid.
I was obsessed with the song "Runing on Ice" when I was little...around 4. Does anyone else absolutely adore this song? I don't think it's on his greatest hits.
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Angry Young Man is an absolutely amazing song.
It absolutely is
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Angry Young Man is an absolutely amazing song.
Damn right it is. If I had to make a Billy Joel top 10, these songs would make the cut (in no particular order):
"Allentown"
"Prelude/Angry Young Man"
"Captain Jack"
"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
"The Downeaster 'Alexa'"
"The Stranger"
"Uptown Girl"
"The Entertainer"
"Piano Man" (awesome song, no matter how many times I hear it)
"New York State of Mind"
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Angry Young Man is an absolutely amazing song.
They play this at Fry's (the grocery store I work at) and I really like the intro. The whole song is pretty good as well, if not a bit goofy.
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Goodnight Saigon is such a sobering song for me
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Love most everything he ever did through Glass Houses and about half of Nylon Curtain and half of Storm Front.
I should really make a compilation one of these days.
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Popped into a CD fair thing today and they had Storm Front for £4, so I thought why not.
Looking forward to giving it a listen when I get home.
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Scenes From an Italian Restaurant is the best them. Been listening to Billy Joel since Middle School.
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Popped into a CD fair thing today and they had Storm Front for £4, so I thought why not.
Looking forward to giving it a listen when I get home.
Storm Front isn't the most solid Billy Joel album to start off with, but it still has a lot of good songs on it. However, if you don't like that, I still recommend you check out The Stranger or 52nd Street as those are much better representations of his music, imo. ;)
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Some average songs, but the good ones are GREAT.
Will definitely check out more stuff, think there's a decent amount on Spotify.
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Most definitely appreciates. I think my top 3 fav songs of his are "Piano Man", "Italian Restuarant", and "NYSOM"
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He's definitely the man. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant is one of my favorites of all time. The changes were awesome in that song. I see that he has a new greatest hits out that I want to get. It has some of his classical stuff on it.
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Billy Joel is one of those rare artists whose music has this uncanny way of conjuring a visual picture or vignette in my mind. His music is very much "grounded" in the vagaries of daily life.
Definitely. One of the all-time greats for sure.
Anyone on here see the musical Movin' Out that was based on Billy Joel songs? Very well done, IMO.
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Goodnight Saigon is such a sobering song for me
Have you seen the music video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjzjhl-QztE
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Billy Joel is one of those rare artists whose music has this uncanny way of conjuring a visual picture or vignette in my mind. His music is very much "grounded" in the vagaries of daily life.
Definitely. One of the all-time greats for sure.
Anyone on here see the musical Movin' Out that was based on Billy Joel songs? Very well done, IMO.
No! I really wanted to, too.... It's up there next to Avenue Q in the musicals I need to see
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It's sort of an odd musical in terms of format because none of the performers sing except the band. The character performers act out their parts solely in dance format. It is almost a modern "ballet" set to Billy Joel music, which I know sounds odd to those who haven't seen it. But it somehow works pretty brilliantly.
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Billy Joel is one of those rare artists whose music has this uncanny way of conjuring a visual picture or vignette in my mind. His music is very much "grounded" in the vagaries of daily life.
Definitely. One of the all-time greats for sure.
Anyone on here see the musical Movin' Out that was based on Billy Joel songs? Very well done, IMO.
No! I really wanted to, too.... It's up there next to Avenue Q in the musicals I need to see
You definitely need to see Avenue Q. Funniest show ever.
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Billy Joel is one of those rare artists whose music has this uncanny way of conjuring a visual picture or vignette in my mind. His music is very much "grounded" in the vagaries of daily life.
Definitely. One of the all-time greats for sure.
Anyone on here see the musical Movin' Out that was based on Billy Joel songs? Very well done, IMO.
No! I really wanted to, too.... It's up there next to Avenue Q in the musicals I need to see
You definitely need to see Avenue Q. Funniest show ever.
I know. The only reason I know of it is because someone showed me the soundtrack. It was AWESOME
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It's sort of an odd musical in terms of format because none of the performers sing except the band. The character performers act out their parts solely in dance format. It is almost a modern "ballet" set to Billy Joel music, which I know sounds odd to those who haven't seen it. But it somehow works pretty brilliantly.
Do they recreate the brilliantly awful "Uptown Girl" video?
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Billy Joel is one of those rare artists whose music has this uncanny way of conjuring a visual picture or vignette in my mind. His music is very much "grounded" in the vagaries of daily life.
Definitely. One of the all-time greats for sure.
Anyone on here see the musical Movin' Out that was based on Billy Joel songs? Very well done, IMO.
Saw it on Broadway. I love Billy Joel's music and my wife (not as big a fan as I) is a huge fan of the choreographer of that show, so it was a win-win for both of us. I thought the show was just ok, but I thought the band did a decent job with the music. I pop in the original cast recording every now and again...
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It's sort of an odd musical in terms of format because none of the performers sing except the band. The character performers act out their parts solely in dance format. It is almost a modern "ballet" set to Billy Joel music, which I know sounds odd to those who haven't seen it. But it somehow works pretty brilliantly.
Do they recreate the brilliantly awful "Uptown Girl" video?
No. But they do use the song as part of the storyline.
Billy Joel is one of those rare artists whose music has this uncanny way of conjuring a visual picture or vignette in my mind. His music is very much "grounded" in the vagaries of daily life.
Definitely. One of the all-time greats for sure.
Anyone on here see the musical Movin' Out that was based on Billy Joel songs? Very well done, IMO.
Saw it on Broadway. I love Billy Joel's music and my wife (not as big a fan as I) is a huge fan of the choreographer of that show, so it was a win-win for both of us. I thought the show was just ok, but I thought the band did a decent job with the music. I pop in the original cast recording every now and again...
I figured you'd probably be a fan, Greg. :)
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Billy Joel is one of those rare artists whose music has this uncanny way of conjuring a visual picture or vignette in my mind. His music is very much "grounded" in the vagaries of daily life.
This is the biggest reason I enjoy his music. I can almost feel what it was like to grow up in that generation, especially with references that are so familiar to people who live in the NY area combined with stories from my parents, etc. And I always get goose bumps listening to "We Didn't Start the Fire"
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(I still have vague memories of being in elementary school when "We Didn't Start the Fire" came out
Man, now I feel really old. :lol
Yeah, native Long Islander here. Been a fan of Billy's pretty much my entire music appreciating life. Great songwriter, good voice, great musician. And man, his songs really hit home for most Long Islanders. Always something about home in most of the tunes.
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(I still have vague memories of being in elementary school when "We Didn't Start the Fire" came out
Man, now I feel really old. :lol
FYI - I'm a couple of months away from 28.
That's how long ago "We Didn't Start the Fire" came out.
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If I had to make a Billy Joel top 10, these songs would make the cut (in no particular order):
"Allentown"
"Prelude/Angry Young Man"
"Captain Jack"
"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
"The Downeaster 'Alexa'"
"The Stranger"
"Uptown Girl"
"The Entertainer"
"Piano Man" (awesome song, no matter how many times I hear it)
"New York State of Mind"
Great list, no doubt, but for me "Good Night Saigon" has to make the cut. I guess I would eliminate...well, I don't know.
I also am a sucker for "She's Got A Way."
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My top 10...
1. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
2. Captain Jack
3. Miami 2017
4. The Ballad of Billy the Kid
5. The Great Suburban Showdown
6. Vienna
7. Stiletto
8. Movin Out
9. Shes Got A Way
10. Angry Young Man
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(I still have vague memories of being in elementary school when "We Didn't Start the Fire" came out
Man, now I feel really old. :lol
FYI - I'm a couple of months away from 28.
That's how long ago "We Didn't Start the Fire" came out.
I can always count on you to make me feel better, Zepp. :lol
Not sure I could do a numbered order of favorite Billy songs, but here are a few:
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
Downeaster Alexa
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
Angry Young Man
She's Got a Way
Vienna
Captain Jack
Goodnight Saigon
Piano Man
New York State of Mind
A Matter of Trust
You May Be Right
Don't Ask Me Why
An Innocent Man
Allentown
All About Soul
The Ballad of Billy the Kid
Summer Highland Falls
Say Goodbye to Hollywood
I've Loved These Days
State of Grace
Lenningrad
A little more than 20. That's from a casual look at all the albums (I have all the CDs [and most of the LPs] - and have them also on the iPod). A few other favorites too, but these were the ones that stood out.
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I couldn't possibly do a top 10. Too many good tunes. Which reminds me, the Billy Joel section of my CD collection is sorely lacking. I need to correct this situation in the not-too-distant future.
I think my favorite album has to be Glass Houses. Yes, it is among the most commercial. But the songs on it are just so good.
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I couldn't possibly do a top 10. Too many good tunes. Which reminds me, the Billy Joel section of my CD collection is sorely lacking. I need to correct this situation in the not-too-distant future.
I think my favorite album has to be Glass Houses. Yes, it is among the most commercial. But the songs on it are just so good.
That's twice today I will say you needs to be flogged.
I detect a used CD run in our future. Time to get you caught up.
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Yeah. You know, I had a few albums on cassette way back when, but never got around to replacing them on CD. The only thing I've currently got is the greatest hits set.
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Downeaster Alexa
One of my all-time favorite songs by any artist.
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Huh, I never liked that song that much. My BJ collection is also sorely lacking, I only have Glass Houses on LP! :o My ex got me "into" him but husband doesn't really like him...I'm gonna buy a dvd with one of his awesome live shows and see if that doesn't rectify that!
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Oh, and like bosk1 and ShadowWalker, I have seen "Movin' Out" as well. Not really my thing, musicals like that. But the band playing the songs...just WOW.
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I couldn't possibly do a top 10. Too many good tunes. Which reminds me, the Billy Joel section of my CD collection is sorely lacking. I need to correct this situation in the not-too-distant future.
I think my favorite album has to be Glass Houses. Yes, it is among the most commercial. But the songs on it are just so good.
I need to do a CD upgrade on Glass House myself. I've been babying my vinyl copy for a while now.
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Speaking about "Movin' Out" (the song), I personally think it's probably my least favorite of his "best" songs
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I couldn't possibly do a top 10. Too many good tunes. Which reminds me, the Billy Joel section of my CD collection is sorely lacking. I need to correct this situation in the not-too-distant future.
I think my favorite album has to be Glass Houses. Yes, it is among the most commercial. But the songs on it are just so good.
Don't feel too bad. My collection is probably just as lacking as far as studio releases go. But I probably make up for it by owning three box sets -- The Stranger anniversary release (Best Buy version with bonus CD), My Lives and the 4CD greatest hits collection -- as well as all official live releases on CD...
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Yeah, you've probably got the vast majority of it covered, I'd say. I also just realized this morning that I have River of Dreams as well. Funny thing is, I don't recall a single song from it, and I have no idea where or when I got it. :lol
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Downeaster Alexa
One of my all-time favorite songs by any artist.
Agree. I used to have a live version that came from a promo CD. My cassette copy of that CD was stolen :( I have never been able to find that version anywhere, which is a shame because it was even more emotionally powerful than the original studio track...
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Downeaster Alexa
One of my all-time favorite songs by any artist.
Definitely. I was so stoked to see it live when I saw him in 2006
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Downeaster Alexa
One of my all-time favorite songs by any artist.
Definitely. I was so stoked to see it live when I saw him in 2006
Agreed, and if you are from Long Island with any friends or family that are in the business, the lyrical content really hits home.
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bump because i really fucking love Billy Joel right now
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Agreed. Billy Joel is awesome! And he's second on my Last.fm with 1,222 plays.
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Downeaster Alexa
One of my all-time favorite songs by any artist.
Definitely. I was so stoked to see it live when I saw him in 2006
Agreed, and if you are from Long Island with any friends or family that are in the business, the lyrical content really hits home.
This song is a very powerful song. I don't live anywhere near Long Island, but just listening to the song leaves a strong impression of what it must be like.
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I grew up with the old Billy Joel 70's albums, and they were amazing. The Stranger, 52nd Street, Piano Man, etc.
What astounds me is how many hits he's had, and how many albums he's had over the years, but when you dig into the albums, you still find the gems. 30something years and hundreds of quality songs. The guy's a genius.
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So I just recently found out that one of my good friends is the daughter of the "Mr. Cacciatore" referenced in "Movin' Out". Her last name is Cacciatore, and it always made me think of the song, but I had never actually mentioned it to her because I just assumed it was a coincidence. But apparently he went to high school with BJ and used to be a bartender at one of the bars he regularly played at back in the day, which is how he ended up in the song.
Must be pretty cool to hear your name in such a huge song...
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That's pretty sweet. :tup
Also: is she hot?
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*appreciates and hails*
As a Long Islander, you can't help but run into Billy here and there. I have seen him perform live...four or five times now, always a treat. But the coolest time I saw him was on the street.
I was working for my buddy one summer at his liquor store in the West Hampton Beach. Was out on a delivery for one of the house down on the water, and low and behold I run into him and his daughter (this was when she was young) walking down the street to the car. I say hello, wish him the best and tell him to have a great day. Just real relaxed. Nice guy having an ice cream cone with his kid.
ANyway, the last time I saw him live was a couple of years ago. First time outside of New York. So as I am singing the tunes, where he typically changes the lyrics to Long Island landmarks, he instead sang the regular version, so I felt like an ass. ha ha ha ha. But good fun.
The most intimate show I saw him at was at a high school auditorium for an environmental benefit in the Hamptons. It was him, his piano, an literally a high school auditorium filled with various folks. Very low key and cool. Christie Brinkley was there, as was Chevy Chase. I sat a row away from Chevy. Just beyond cool.
Billy has said he's done mostly writing lyrics, but I hope one day he does another traditional rock album. Been WAY too long.
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His "modern classical" piano album isn't too bad. I listen to it sometimes.
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Favorite video?
Gotta be "Uptown Girl" for me. Featuring the lovely Christie Brinkley :hat, it is just a fun video to watch.
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Also: is she hot?
Yessir indeed. :tup
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Good to know. I'll never meet her, and would never have a chance, but somehow it's comforting to know that there's one more Italian babe out there who's indeed hot.
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I wish I knew some famous people :(
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Good to know. I'll never meet her, and would never have a chance, but somehow it's comforting to know that there's one more Italian babe out there who's indeed hot.
If she ever becomes single you'd have to fight me for her :). (I already spent like a year trying in spite of the fact that she's "taken").
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Love Billy and saw him on the 94 tour with Elton John. Great show with way too many hits. My favorite Billy song is Goodnight Saigon.
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Coming soon to a theater near you!
https://thelastplayatshea.com/
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Love Billy and saw him on the 94 tour with Elton John. Great show with way too many hits. My favorite Billy song is Goodnight Saigon.
I love that song too
Hell, there's hardly a Billy Joel song I DON'T love :D
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Coming soon to a theater near you!
https://thelastplayatshea.com/
:tup Gonna see if my dad wants to go to that with me, hes a pretty big Billy Joel fan. I was going through my records the other day and I found a tour program from 76/77 inside of "The Stranger" from when he saw him in Boston.
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Coming soon to a theater near you!
https://thelastplayatshea.com/
:tup Gonna see if my dad wants to go to that with me, hes a pretty big Billy Joel fan. I was going through my records the other day and I found a tour program from 76/77 inside of "The Stranger" from when he saw him in Boston.
What is it?
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Coming soon to a theater near you!
https://thelastplayatshea.com/
:tup Gonna see if my dad wants to go to that with me, hes a pretty big Billy Joel fan. I was going through my records the other day and I found a tour program from 76/77 inside of "The Stranger" from when he saw him in Boston.
What is it?
Wait, what is what? I'm confused. :lol
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The Last Play At Shea
I don't understand what it is. The link didn't really explain it
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The Last Play At Shea
I don't understand what it is. The link didn't really explain it
Oh, I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure its just the concert footage from Billy Joel's last concert at the Shea Stadium in New York before they tore it down. I think he was the last artist to play there. I can't remember when they tore it down, but it wasn't all that long ago.
EDIT - Some more info about the concert:
From wikipedia
The stadium has hosted numerous concerts since, the last being a two-night engagement by Billy Joel on July 16, and July 18, 2008. The concerts were dubbed the "Last Play at Shea," and featured many special guest appearances, including former Beatle Paul McCartney who closed the second show with an emotional rendition of The Beatles classic "Let It Be". Other artists that joined Joel on stage for the show were former Shea performer Roger Daltrey of The Who, Tony Bennett, Don Henley, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Garth Brooks, and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. The concerts are the subject of a documentary film of the same name, which uses the concerts and Shea's history to tell the story of changes in American suburban life.[37]
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^^^^^
This. Billy Joel played two nights at Shea Stadium on July 16th and 18th, 2008, and had a bunch of guests come out and join him, including Tony Bennet, John Mayer, John Mellencamp and Don Henley on the 16th and Garth Brooks, Steven Tyler, Roger Daltrey and Paul McCartney on the 18th.
I was at the July 16th show and it was phenomenal. Although I still hold a bit of a grudge about how it was all handled, because they announced the 16th show first, and it was hell trying to get tickets, but a bunch of us kept trying to get through and we eventually did. But the show sold out almost immediately, due in no small part to the fact that this was billed as the last show ever at Shea Stadium, and then a few days later they decided to add a second show on the 18th, basically saying "fuck you" to all the people who bought tickets for the show on the 16th. The second show ended up being the real "last show ever" and obviously had all of the better guests... including the Billy Joel/Paul McCartney encore duets of "I Saw Her Standing There", "Piano Man" and "Let It Be" (which were all originally intended for the 16th show).
>:(
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Thats pretty stupid. If they were going to add a second show (which they probably knew before the first one sold out) they could have atleast had the courtesy to do it a couple days BEFORE your show.
But this is the music industry, so its not surprising when things like that happen, sadly. :P I'm sure the first night was awesome too. :tup
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Yeah, I mean... the show I saw was definitely amazing. And tbh, I don't even really care about the "last show ever" part... I'm just really bummed that I missed out on the Billy Joel/Paul McCartney encore... and also - to a slightly lesser degree - the fact that he played "Summer, Highland Falls" on the 18th, but not at the show I was at. (Probably one of my top 5 Billy Joel songs).
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If you consider yourself an old fogie you might appreciate this.
I consider myself a pretty big fan of Billy Joel, but I never knew anything about this. What a cast! And how do you pronounce the creator's last name? :laugh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJiyeD2dzhw
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That's fantastic, but I have no idea what it is lol
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I think it is a pilot for a t.v. sitcom that never got produced.
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Probably just a joke but I still did some digging…
The creators name doesn’t come up anywhere, but the three names listed as “developed by” are three well known producer names of sitcoms in the late 70’s.
Co-star Liberty DeVitto played drums for Joel.
The others listed in the cast are all real actors from the 70’s and 80’s.
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If you consider yourself an old fogie you might appreciate this.
I consider myself a pretty big fan of Billy Joel, but I never knew anything about this. What a cast! And how do you pronounce the creator's last name? :laugh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJiyeD2dzhw
Can't tell if this is real or some sort of joke.
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I would guess it's a joke.
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I don't know that it's a joke. I think either they were filming it for a video or they legit thought it could be a t.v. show like Welcome Back Kotter and Taxi.
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So what happens when you make a biopic and you can't use the name of the star, his likeness, or use any of his music?
Would anyone even bother?
https://consequence.net/2022/03/billy-joel-biopic-no-rights-greenlit/
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Side bar: Watching "This Is Us" (for my money, the best show on network television by a LONG shot and the first show in years that I am actually sad to see go) and there was a backstory about Jack and Miguel arguing about "The best Billy Joel song ever", and I turned to my wife and said "My vote? 'Vienna', or 'She's Always A Woman', from The Stranger". Deep down I expected "Scenes", because it's sort of a hipster vote, but sure enough, the argument was between "Piano Man" and "She's Always A Woman".
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Side bar: Watching "This Is Us" (for my money, the best show on network television by a LONG shot and the first show in years that I am actually sad to see go) and there was a backstory about Jack and Miguel arguing about "The best Billy Joel song ever", and I turned to my wife and said "My vote? 'Vienna', or 'She's Always A Woman', from The Stranger". Deep down I expected "Scenes", because it's sort of a hipster vote, but sure enough, the argument was between "Piano Man" and "She's Always A Woman".
Piano Man is for sure his signature song. I don’t know if it’s my favorite, but it’s hard to argue against it.
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Piano Man is undoubtedly his signature song, but I will go to my grave arguing that Allentown is his best song.
But if someone wants to argue in favor of Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, I will not fight back. ;)
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... I will go to my grave arguing that Allentown is his best song.
You may be right.
:neverusethis:
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I've always loved We Didn't Start the Fire.
My freshman high school history teacher taught the song. He broke down the lyrics by year and students had to research why that person/item was important in that specific year. This was before the internet and before wikipedia. I spent so many nights with my parents reading encyclopedias to get the answers. Then at the end of class, every day for a month straight, we sang the song in class. Nearly 30 years later and I still have the entire song memorized.
But I was a kid in the 80's and his videos ruled my childhood - Uptown Girl, Allentown, The Longest Time. Those are always my go-to Billy Joel songs, despite the popularity of Piano Man.
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... I will go to my grave arguing that Allentown is his best song.
You may be right.
:neverusethis:
Why must you go to extremes?
:P :P:
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I've always loved We Didn't Start the Fire.
My freshman high school history teacher taught the song. He broke down the lyrics by year and students had to research why that person/item was important in that specific year. This was before the internet and before wikipedia. I spent so many nights with my parents reading encyclopedias to get the answers. Then at the end of class, every day for a month straight, we sang the song in class. Nearly 30 years later and I still have the entire song memorized.
But I was a kid in the 80's and his videos ruled my childhood - Uptown Girl, Allentown, The Longest Time. Those are always my go-to Billy Joel songs, despite the popularity of Piano Man.
We Didn't Start the Fire is fun with all of those cultural references, one after another, but I can't say it is one I go out of my way to hear anymore.
The Longest Time is amazing when you consider that the entire song is Joel's vocals (every single voice you hear in the song is his), a bass guitar and hand percussion (snaps and claps).
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Whattsamatta with the posts I'm reading?
Cantcha tell that you got side-eyed?
Maybe I should grab a shopping cart...
take it out for a fabulous ride.
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HAHA!
The Longest Time is amazing when you consider that the entire song is Joel's vocals (every single voice you hear in the song is his), a bass guitar and hand percussion (snaps and claps).
It's not my favorite album - that's either The Stranger or Nylon Curtain - but that album is so impressive. It's a concept album in a sense, as every track is an homage to the one of the groups (or styles) that influenced him. My favorite is of course the title track, but that's me.
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... I will go to my grave arguing that Allentown is his best song.
You may be right.
:neverusethis:
Why must you go to extremes?
:P :P:
Because he's a big shot.
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Side bar: Watching "This Is Us" (for my money, the best show on network television by a LONG shot and the first show in years that I am actually sad to see go) and there was a backstory about Jack and Miguel arguing about "The best Billy Joel song ever", and I turned to my wife and said "My vote? 'Vienna', or 'She's Always A Woman', from The Stranger". Deep down I expected "Scenes", because it's sort of a hipster vote, but sure enough, the argument was between "Piano Man" and "She's Always A Woman".
Vienna's a good one. I'll throw a few more at you that I love - Goodnight Saigon, Honesty, Zanzibar, The Downeaster "Alexa", Leningrad, And So It Goes, Rosalind's Eyes - so many great songs!
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Side bar: Watching "This Is Us" (for my money, the best show on network television by a LONG shot and the first show in years that I am actually sad to see go) and there was a backstory about Jack and Miguel arguing about "The best Billy Joel song ever", and I turned to my wife and said "My vote? 'Vienna', or 'She's Always A Woman', from The Stranger". Deep down I expected "Scenes", because it's sort of a hipster vote, but sure enough, the argument was between "Piano Man" and "She's Always A Woman".
Vienna's a good one. I'll throw a few more at you that I love - Goodnight Saigon, Honesty, Zanzibar, The Downeaster "Alexa", Leningrad, And So It Goes, Rosalind's Eyes - so many great songs!
No lie, EVERY ONE of those songs are on my list of favorites. I gave in the extended version of Zanzibar (it's about a minute or so longer with the band jamming at the end) in a roulette once and killed it.
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Side bar: Watching "This Is Us" (for my money, the best show on network television by a LONG shot and the first show in years that I am actually sad to see go) and there was a backstory about Jack and Miguel arguing about "The best Billy Joel song ever", and I turned to my wife and said "My vote? 'Vienna', or 'She's Always A Woman', from The Stranger". Deep down I expected "Scenes", because it's sort of a hipster vote, but sure enough, the argument was between "Piano Man" and "She's Always A Woman".
Vienna's a good one. I'll throw a few more at you that I love - Goodnight Saigon, Honesty, Zanzibar, The Downeaster "Alexa", Leningrad, And So It Goes, Rosalind's Eyes - so many great songs!
No lie, EVERY ONE of those songs are on my list of favorites. I gave in the extended version of Zanzibar (it's about a minute or so longer with the band jamming at the end) in a roulette once and killed it.
Cool! I'm a big Billy Joel fan, sounds like we've got similar tastes with him. Here's a few more - All About Soul, Lullabye, She's Got a Way, Everybody has a Dream and of course New York State of Mind.
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Anyone ever see Movin' Out? It was basically a "rock ballet" (I don't know if that term is really a thing, but I remember describing it that way to somebody at the time because that was the best description I could come up with, and interestingly enough, that is how wikipedia describes it as well) featuring songs by Billy Joel, and weaving a story together with a mock Billy Joel singing and playing piano for all the songs, along with a backing band, and actors/dancers acting out the lyrics. I saw it years ago (I want to say maybe 2005 or 2006) and thought it was pretty good. Interesting format for a show. The music was performed pretty credibly, and the stage show brought the songs to life in interesting ways.
The song list is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movin%27_Out_(musical)
VERY solid set for any Billy Joel fan, regardless of which era you might prefer.
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It's not my favorite album - that's either The Stranger or Nylon Curtain - but that album is so impressive. It's a concept album in a sense, as every track is an homage to the one of the groups (or styles) that influenced him. My favorite is of course the title track, but that's me.
I am actually not sure I have ever heard An Innocent Man from start to finish. It has been forever since I listened to all of The Nylon Curtain.
I need to rectify both of those very soon.
Side bar: Watching "This Is Us" (for my money, the best show on network television by a LONG shot and the first show in years that I am actually sad to see go) and there was a backstory about Jack and Miguel arguing about "The best Billy Joel song ever", and I turned to my wife and said "My vote? 'Vienna', or 'She's Always A Woman', from The Stranger". Deep down I expected "Scenes", because it's sort of a hipster vote, but sure enough, the argument was between "Piano Man" and "She's Always A Woman".
Vienna's a good one. I'll throw a few more at you that I love - Goodnight Saigon, Honesty, Zanzibar, The Downeaster "Alexa", Leningrad, And So It Goes, Rosalind's Eyes - so many great songs!
No lie, EVERY ONE of those songs are on my list of favorites. I gave in the extended version of Zanzibar (it's about a minute or so longer with the band jamming at the end) in a roulette once and killed it.
Cool! I'm a big Billy Joel fan, sounds like we've got similar tastes with him. Here's a few more - All About Soul, Lullabye, She's Got a Way, Everybody has a Dream and of course New York State of Mind.
Let's not forget Prelude/Angry Young Man and Captain Jack. :hat :hat
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I did the ranking engine for fun with his songs and came out with this top 25. Looks about right. :tup :tup
1 Allentown
2 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
3 Prelude/Angry Young Man
4 Pressure
5 Captain Jack
6 New York State of Mind
7 Piano Man
8 Uptown Girl
9 Tell Her About It
10 The Entertainer
11 The Stranger
12 The Downeaster Alexa
13 The Longest Time
14 Zanzibar
15 Vienna
16 Don't Ask Me Why
17 She's Right On Time
18 Only the Good Die Young
19 Say Goodbye to Hollywood
20 Miami 2017
21 Goodnight Siagon
22 Movin' Out
23 She's Always a Woman
24 All for Aleyna
25 I Go to Extremes
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My Life isn’t top 25?
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Billy Joel has so many great songs, I couldn't pick one song for best song. But a lot of good ones have been mentioned.
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I did the ranking engine for fun with his songs and came out with this top 25. Looks about right. :tup :tup
1 Allentown
2 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
3 Prelude/Angry Young Man
4 Pressure
5 Captain Jack
6 New York State of Mind
7 Piano Man
8 Uptown Girl
9 Tell Her About It
10 The Entertainer
11 The Stranger
12 The Downeaster Alexa
13 The Longest Time
14 Zanzibar
15 Vienna
16 Don't Ask Me Why
17 She's Right On Time
18 Only the Good Die Young
19 Say Goodbye to Hollywood
20 Miami 2017
21 Goodnight Siagon
22 Movin' Out
23 She's Always a Woman
24 All for Aleyna
25 I Go to Extremes
Allentown would definitely not be my number one though.
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My Life isn’t top 25?
Do you see it listed? :P
Allentown would definitely not be my number one though.
Then your list is a fail. :biggrin:
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Summer. Highland. Falls.
Shit, the whole Turnstiles album. So many great albums. So many great songs.
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Billy's got such a weird bug up his ass about Tell Her About It. He refuses to play it live for some reason even though it was a pretty big song of his.
I Don't Want To Be Alone and Leave A Tender Moment Alone are two songs of his that really fly under everyone's radar but I think they're outstanding.
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My Number 1 would probably be Miami 2017 (from Songs In The Attic). It has so much more energy than the original. My Number 2 would probably be The Ballad Of Billy The Kid (also from Songs In The Attic).
As far as songs flying under the radar... Until The Night from 52nd Street is fantastic. Such a beautiful and moody song. C'était Toi from Glass Houses is another one.
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Billy's got such a weird bug up his ass about Tell Her About It. He refuses to play it live for some reason even though it was a pretty big song of his.
Hmmm, I cannot remember if he played that the one time I saw him in 1999, but I know that was when he still wasn't playing Uptown Girl. The thing is though, he has so many hits that he can leave off a few and the set list will still be really heavy on the hits. Tom Petty was that way the one time I saw him as well. He left off a few big hits, but it didn't matter cause the set list still had a zillion other hits.
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Uptown Girl and Tell Her About it are both from 1983, same album (An Innocent Man). Billy was red hot, banging Elle Macpherson and then Christie Brinkley. I wouldn't be surprised if Billy avoids those songs now. If I was banging supermodels at some point in my life (yeah right), I wouldn't want to sing songs that remind me how I used to bang supermodels, especially when I've got so many other songs.
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Uptown Girl and Tell Her About it are both from 1983, same album (An Innocent Man). Billy was red hot, banging Elle Macpherson and then Christie Brinkley. I wouldn't be surprised if Billy avoids those songs now. If I was banging supermodels at some point in my life (yeah right), I wouldn't want to sing songs that remind me how I used to bang supermodels, especially when I've got so many other songs.
I believe I read once somewhere that it did have something to do with Christie Brinkley. That was a long time ago though.
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Uptown Girl is definitely about Christine Brinkley. Heck, she is even heavily featured in the video! I forgot about him dating Elle, so it might be about her, too. My memory is a little fuzzy. :lol :lol
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Bosom Buddies with Billy Joel (https://youtu.be/QvMvqrcqNcU?t=271)
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I did the ranking engine for fun with his songs and came out with this top 25. Looks about right. :tup :tup
1 Allentown
2 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
3 Prelude/Angry Young Man
4 Pressure
5 Captain Jack
6 New York State of Mind
7 Piano Man
8 Uptown Girl
9 Tell Her About It
10 The Entertainer
11 The Stranger
12 The Downeaster Alexa
13 The Longest Time
14 Zanzibar
15 Vienna
16 Don't Ask Me Why
17 She's Right On Time
18 Only the Good Die Young
19 Say Goodbye to Hollywood
20 Miami 2017
21 Goodnight Siagon
22 Movin' Out
23 She's Always a Woman
24 All for Aleyna
25 I Go to Extremes
I'm traveling this week... this might be something for the down time.
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Summer. Highland. Falls.
Shit, the whole Turnstiles album. So many great albums. So many great songs.
Oh hell YES :heart
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I did the ranking engine for fun with his songs and came out with this top 25. Looks about right. :tup :tup
1 Allentown
2 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
3 Prelude/Angry Young Man
4 Pressure
5 Captain Jack
6 New York State of Mind
7 Piano Man
8 Uptown Girl
9 Tell Her About It
10 The Entertainer
11 The Stranger
12 The Downeaster Alexa
13 The Longest Time
14 Zanzibar
15 Vienna
16 Don't Ask Me Why
17 She's Right On Time
18 Only the Good Die Young
19 Say Goodbye to Hollywood
20 Miami 2017
21 Goodnight Siagon
22 Movin' Out
23 She's Always a Woman
24 All for Aleyna
25 I Go to Extremes
I'm traveling this week... this might be something for the down time.
Still waiting for your list. ;)
(I listened to a lot of Billy Joel yesterday, so I have him on the brain)
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I'm such a huge Billy Joel fan. My mom remembers at him at some parties back in the early 70s (we're from Long Island and she grew up not too far from him). One of the first records I remember from back in the late-70s was my parents' copy of 52nd Street on vinyl.
There's another thread somewhere that talks about how where an artist is from, particularly those from the 70s and 80s, gets into the music and you just hear the location. Billy, aside from the lyrical references...his tunes are totally Long Island. They've got a way about them. I don't know what it is...
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I'm such a huge Billy Joel fan. My mom remembers at him at some parties back in the early 70s (we're from Long Island and she grew up not too far from him). One of the first records I remember from back in the late-70s was my parents' copy of 52nd Street on vinyl.
There's another thread somewhere that talks about how where an artist is from, particularly those from the 70s and 80s, gets into the music and you just hear the location. Billy, aside from the lyrical references...his tunes are totally Long Island. They've got a way about them. I don't know what it is...
Rumor has it that he has a New York state of mind. ;)
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And he's seen the lights go out on Broadway...
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:tup :tup
I'd actually love do a quick top 25 countdown for him (like the Maiden, Rush, Queensryche, etc. ones), but not sure if we'd be able to get enough contributors to make it worthwhile.
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It would likely be tough. But if you ever did, I'd be in!
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I'd definitely be down
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:tup :tup
I'd actually love do a quick top 25 countdown for him (like the Maiden, Rush, Queensryche, etc. ones), but not sure if we'd be able to get enough contributors to make it worthwhile.
I'm in if you do a top 25. I never do these list things, as quite frankly I don't really have the time to mess with it (trying to figure out a top 100 for Rush or top 75 for PT would be excruciating for me), but I was a huge Billy Joel fan growing up, so put me in for a top 25 if it helps you guys out.
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I'm in for that, but I'm struggling to just do a top 25. He's one of "those" artists for me; I almost never consider him one of my three or four favorites, but I can go on a Billy Joel kick and just listen to him for DAYS. The Stranger is a perfect album, top to bottom, and one of my favorites since I was a little kid.
"Slow down, you crazy child..."
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It's crazy how Vienna went from being just a deep cut on his most popular album to being one of his most popular songs now. Go look at the streaming numbers. It's now in the same stratosphere as Uptown Girl and Piano Man. There is no way anyone could have predicted that.
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It's crazy how Vienna went from being just a deep cut on his most popular album to being one of his most popular songs now. Go look at the streaming numbers. It's now in the same stratosphere as Uptown Girl and Piano Man. There is no way anyone could have predicted that.
Always loved that song.
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I never think about him when I think of favorite lyricists, but I probably should. Most of my favorites are ones whose lyrics I notice in a positive way on a regular basis, and he definitely falls into that category.
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I never think about him when I think of favorite lyricists, but I probably should. Most of my favorites are ones whose lyrics I notice in a positive way on a regular basis, and he definitely falls into that category.
Good call!
I think too, we should note that he's still a productive, powerful musician - he sells out MSG regularly - but has completely - I think there might be ONE single in the intervening time - walked away from the grind of "studio production". His last album was, if memory serves, 1993, and he has zero intention of ever doing another one again. I admire that, deeply.
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It's crazy how Vienna went from being just a deep cut on his most popular album to being one of his most popular songs now. Go look at the streaming numbers. It's now in the same stratosphere as Uptown Girl and Piano Man. There is no way anyone could have predicted that.
Yeah, Vienna was a rarity for sure. He plays it all the time now. Love that song.
re: lyrics - what I love about Billy is that you can really relate to his lyrics. Early on, a lot of it was local stuff, which being a Long Islander, I recognized and loved. But as he got older, he got better and really writes the kind of realistic stuff - relationships, age, children, that I can appreciate and evolve with.
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It's crazy how Vienna went from being just a deep cut on his most popular album to being one of his most popular songs now. Go look at the streaming numbers. It's now in the same stratosphere as Uptown Girl and Piano Man. There is no way anyone could have predicted that.
Yeah, Vienna was a rarity for sure. He plays it all the time now. Love that song.
re: lyrics - what I love about Billy is that you can really relate to his lyrics. Early on, a lot of it was local stuff, which being a Long Islander, I recognized and loved. But as he got older, he got better and really writes the kind of realistic stuff - relationships, age, children, that I can appreciate and evolve with.
For a guy who even he will admit barely got out of high school, he's a VERY eloquent man, and has a real turn of phrase in some of his lyrics.
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I never think about him when I think of favorite lyricists, but I probably should. Most of my favorites are ones whose lyrics I notice in a positive way on a regular basis, and he definitely falls into that category.
Good call!
I think too, we should note that he's still a productive, powerful musician - he sells out MSG regularly - but has completely - I think there might be ONE single in the intervening time - walked away from the grind of "studio production". His last album was, if memory serves, 1993, and he has zero intention of ever doing another one again. I admire that, deeply.
I do as well. Rather than being an aging musician who spit out a new record every few years just so he could say he had a new one, he pretty much said that he had nothing else new to say, and he seems to be enjoying his status as a legacy artist.
It's crazy how Vienna went from being just a deep cut on his most popular album to being one of his most popular songs now. Go look at the streaming numbers. It's now in the same stratosphere as Uptown Girl and Piano Man. There is no way anyone could have predicted that.
Yeah, Vienna was a rarity for sure. He plays it all the time now. Love that song.
re: lyrics - what I love about Billy is that you can really relate to his lyrics. Early on, a lot of it was local stuff, which being a Long Islander, I recognized and loved. But as he got older, he got better and really writes the kind of realistic stuff - relationships, age, children, that I can appreciate and evolve with.
For a guy who even he will admit barely got out of high school, he's a VERY eloquent man, and has a real turn of phrase in some of his lyrics.
For sure. Hell, I am not a NY guy, or even an East Coast one, but there is something about the lyrics to New York State of Mind that resonates. And who doesn't love the story of Brenda and Eddie in Scenes...?! :)
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I never think about him when I think of favorite lyricists, but I probably should. Most of my favorites are ones whose lyrics I notice in a positive way on a regular basis, and he definitely falls into that category.
Good call!
I think too, we should note that he's still a productive, powerful musician - he sells out MSG regularly - but has completely - I think there might be ONE single in the intervening time - walked away from the grind of "studio production". His last album was, if memory serves, 1993, and he has zero intention of ever doing another one again. I admire that, deeply.
See, I admire this as well, if he feels he has nothing left to say musically, why just go through the motions of recording new music. But at the same time, I find it hard to believe that a guy who was such a prolific songwriter, has had nothing to say in 30 years, you know?
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I'm sure he does have something to say. But if he doesn't feel the need to express it lyrically, all the more power to him, I guess. Billy has always struck me as someone who says things like he sees them. And in this day and age, that's difficult to do, unfortunately. I mean, who wants a 70-year-old pop rock star complaining or calling things out? He'd just get hammered on, ya know? And even if he just kept it relationship-based, what's he going to talk about - how much he loves being a rich old guy with grandkids?
So in some ways, I understand his silence. He can rock out to his old standards, where everyone in attendance is happy, and not have to think about writing new material that people can relate to.
Although I'll obviously never be as rich or famous as Billy Joel, I understand to a degree. Things I think about and say now, from my perspective, are that of a middle aged white dude from New York. The world is a lot more diverse and colorful than it was while I was growing up. So different. My "perspective" is outdated to a degree. (As much as I can't believe how much time has passed.) And if I were a songwriter, I'm not sure I could relate to folks a generation or two younger than me. And Billy would need to.
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He's one of those artists whose last song was absolutely perfect, "Famous Last Words". He couldn't have chosen a more fitting song as the final song on his final studio album. He definitely lost something when he fired off his band and went with almost all new people for River Of Dreams. They just had a feel that was awesome. But, he's someone whose music I've personally loved for over 40 years.
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My joke for years has been that Rivers of Dreams being the most popular song off the album of the same name was a clear sign to Billy that the creative well had run dry, but my joke doesn't disguise the fact that I think that song sucks.
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The first song I heard played on the radio from River Of Dreams before it came out was "No Man's Land". And, it was on the local rock station. I heard that song and was like "Holy Crap! Billy Joel is doing rock again." I was fully expecting (or, should I say "hoping") for it to be back to more of a Glass Houses feel than Storm Front. Obviously, I was sadly mistaken. There are some good songs on it. But, overall, I wasn't thrilled with it.
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My joke for years has been that Rivers of Dreams being the most popular song off the album of the same name was a clear sign to Billy that the creative well had run dry, but my joke doesn't disguise the fact that I think that song sucks.
That song is weird; every time I hear it I get the sense of deja vu, like it's a cover of some other song, but it's not. I don't know what that means; that I think it's derivative? I don't know. It doesn't SUCK, but it's not one of my favorites. It's just a song that I don't really associate with Billy Joel all that much.
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The first song I heard played on the radio from Storm Front before it came out was "No Man's Land". And, it was on the local rock station. I heard that song and was like "Holy Crap! Billy Joel is doing rock again." I was fully expecting (or, should I say "hoping") for it to be back to more of a Glass Houses feel than Storm Front. Obviously, I was sadly mistaken. There are some good songs on it. But, overall, I wasn't thrilled with it.
No Man's Land is from River of Dreams; Storm Front - one of my favorite albums, by the way - has the following songs:
"That's Not Her Style" – 5:10
"We Didn't Start the Fire" – 4:50
"The Downeaster 'Alexa'" – 3:44
"I Go to Extremes" – 4:23
"Shameless" – 4:26
"Storm Front" – 5:17
"Leningrad" – 4:06
"State of Grace" – 4:30
"When in Rome" – 4:44
"And So It Goes" – 3:38
I'm sort of over the hit - "We Didn't Start The Fire"; it was cute the first five times - but "...Alexa", "Extremes", and "Leningrad" are all top tier Billy Joel. Especially "Extremes"; how naked can you be as an artist? I also grew up in CT along the Long Island Sound, and even lived on Block Island for a summer, so the names and places in "...Alexa" are home to me. I think that probably matters.
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Stormfront is one of my favorites too. But man, yeah, if I ever hear We Didn't Start the Fire again, it'll be too soon. Cool tune, but it got annoying quickly.
That whole record is great.
I thought what Billy did by firing his band before River of Dreams was lame. I always have. And while he, Liberty Devito, Richie, Russel, etc., have apparently mended fences, it still doesn't make it right. Those guys have this swing and feel that really made Billy's songs come to life. I am sure folks about NY know this around, but BIlly's old band have christened themselves the "Lords of 52nd Street" and play gigs all the time.
re: Famous Last Words - yeah, Billy knew. Fitting.
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Stormfront is one of my favorites too. But man, yeah, if I ever hear We Didn't Start the Fire again, it'll be too soon. Cool tune, but it got annoying quickly.
That whole record is great.
I thought what Billy did by firing his band before River of Dreams was lame. I always have. And while he, Liberty Devito, Richie, Russel, etc., have apparently mended fences, it still doesn't make it right. Those guys have this swing and feel that really made Billy's songs come to life. I am sure folks about NY know this around, but BIlly's old band have christened themselves the "Lords of 52nd Street" and play gigs all the time.
re: Famous Last Words - yeah, Billy knew. Fitting.
I've been meaning to see "Lords..."; they play regularly at the local theater I go to (Ridgefield Playhouse).
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Yeah, I want to go see them too, but being on the west coast now for 20 years, it's hard to justify flying back for that. :lol
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Yeah, I want to go see them too, but being on the west coast now for 20 years, it's hard to justify flying back for that. :lol
I get priority seating for any show at the Playhouse. Just throwing it out there, but if the planets ever align and you're this way and they are there, let's go!
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Yeah, I want to go see them too, but being on the west coast now for 20 years, it's hard to justify flying back for that. :lol
I get priority seating for any show at the Playhouse. Just throwing it out there, but if the planets ever align and you're this way and they are there, let's go!
Thanks man! Absolutely. Would be fun!
Getting home has been difficult in recent years. Last time I was there was spring 2013. I've been back east, just not up to the Island.
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My joke for years has been that Rivers of Dreams being the most popular song off the album of the same name was a clear sign to Billy that the creative well had run dry, but my joke doesn't disguise the fact that I think that song sucks.
That song is weird; every time I hear it I get the sense of deja vu, like it's a cover of some other song, but it's not. I don't know what that means; that I think it's derivative? I don't know. It doesn't SUCK, but it's not one of my favorites. It's just a song that I don't really associate with Billy Joel all that much.
It's reminiscent of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. That might be what you are thinking of.
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The first song I heard played on the radio from Storm Front before it came out was "No Man's Land". And, it was on the local rock station. I heard that song and was like "Holy Crap! Billy Joel is doing rock again." I was fully expecting (or, should I say "hoping") for it to be back to more of a Glass Houses feel than Storm Front. Obviously, I was sadly mistaken. There are some good songs on it. But, overall, I wasn't thrilled with it.
No Man's Land is from River of Dreams; Storm Front - one of my favorite albums, by the way - has the following songs:
"That's Not Her Style" – 5:10
"We Didn't Start the Fire" – 4:50
"The Downeaster 'Alexa'" – 3:44
"I Go to Extremes" – 4:23
"Shameless" – 4:26
"Storm Front" – 5:17
"Leningrad" – 4:06
"State of Grace" – 4:30
"When in Rome" – 4:44
"And So It Goes" – 3:38
I'm sort of over the hit - "We Didn't Start The Fire"; it was cute the first five times - but "...Alexa", "Extremes", and "Leningrad" are all top tier Billy Joel. Especially "Extremes"; how naked can you be as an artist? I also grew up in CT along the Long Island Sound, and even lived on Block Island for a summer, so the names and places in "...Alexa" are home to me. I think that probably matters.
I’ll throw “And So It Goes” in there with the other 3 you mention as a “top tier Billy Joel” song.
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No Man's Land is from River of Dreams; Storm Front - one of my favorite album
Oh, snap! I can't believe I put that. I went back and edited that first sentence when I was writing and put Storm Front by mistake. Storm Front is fine. But, like I said, I was definitely hoping for something a little more "rock" on the next one.
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My joke for years has been that Rivers of Dreams being the most popular song off the album of the same name was a clear sign to Billy that the creative well had run dry, but my joke doesn't disguise the fact that I think that song sucks.
That song is weird; every time I hear it I get the sense of deja vu, like it's a cover of some other song, but it's not. I don't know what that means; that I think it's derivative? I don't know. It doesn't SUCK, but it's not one of my favorites. It's just a song that I don't really associate with Billy Joel all that much.
It's reminiscent of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. That might be what you are thinking of.
Ooh, you may be right! It's got that same looping melody.
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I’ll throw “And So It Goes” in there with the other 3 you mention as a “top tier Billy Joel” song.
Agreed.
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No Man's Land is from River of Dreams; Storm Front - one of my favorite albums, by the way - has the following songs:
"That's Not Her Style" – 5:10
"We Didn't Start the Fire" – 4:50
"The Downeaster 'Alexa'" – 3:44
"I Go to Extremes" – 4:23
"Shameless" – 4:26
"Storm Front" – 5:17
"Leningrad" – 4:06
"State of Grace" – 4:30
"When in Rome" – 4:44
"And So It Goes" – 3:38
I'm sort of over the hit - "We Didn't Start The Fire"; it was cute the first five times - but "...Alexa", "Extremes", and "Leningrad" are all top tier Billy Joel. Especially "Extremes"; how naked can you be as an artist? I also grew up in CT along the Long Island Sound, and even lived on Block Island for a summer, so the names and places in "...Alexa" are home to me. I think that probably matters.
I think I only know the hits from Storm Front, but I agree about ...Alexa, Lennigrad and I Go to Extremes. I once karaoke'd The Downeaster Alexa (I had had way too many beers); such a great song. And there are few songs as fun to air piano as I Go to Extremes. And So It Goes is very nice as well. And I am with ya on We Didn't Start the Fire. It's fine if it comes on, but I never turn it on myself anymore.
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I'm a singer, very much in the range of Billy Joel, so I tended to sing his stuff a lot in the late-1990s and early 2000s with friends' bands and karaoke. I used to do "A Matter of Trust" and from Stormfront, "I Go to Extremes." Good times.
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I'm a singer, very much in the range of Billy Joel, so I tended to sing his stuff a lot in the late-1990s and early 2000s with friends' bands and karaoke. I used to do "A Matter of Trust" and from Stormfront, "I Go to Extremes." Good times.
I like both of those songs a lot.
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I'm a singer, very much in the range of Billy Joel, so I tended to sing his stuff a lot in the late-1990s and early 2000s with friends' bands and karaoke. I used to do "A Matter of Trust" and from Stormfront, "I Go to Extremes." Good times.
I like both of those songs a lot.
Yeah, me too. I forgot about A Matter of Trust - but that's a cool tune!
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My dad is not a big Billy Joel fan, but he loves A Matter of Trust. The video is a big reason why.
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My dad is not a big Billy Joel fan, but he loves A Matter of Trust. The video is a big reason why.
What babe is in that video?
Mentioning Dad, it's interesting to me that my Dad's music didn't really register with me till later on in life. He loved Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Elvis, and I've come to appreciate them all very much as I get older. One thing that did resonate at the time is, he LOVED the song "An Innocent Man" from the album of the same name (a concept album where each track is an overt homage or pastiche of songs/groups/styles that Joel listened to as a kid).
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"An Innocent Man" is an incredible song. Always pops up for me in my top-six or seven Billy tunes. A lot of people forget about that record and that song. Good stuff.
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My dad is not a big Billy Joel fan, but he loves A Matter of Trust. The video is a big reason why.
What babe is in that video?
Mentioning Dad, it's interesting to me that my Dad's music didn't really register with me till later on in life. He loved Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Elvis, and I've come to appreciate them all very much as I get older. One thing that did resonate at the time is, he LOVED the song "An Innocent Man" from the album of the same name (a concept album where each track is an overt homage or pastiche of songs/groups/styles that Joel listened to as a kid).
Christine Brinkley!
And isn't that their baby Alexa she is holding?
My dad was always a big Elvis fan, which I cannot say I ever was, but my dad was instrumental in getting me to listen to Sgt Pepper when I was like 8, so that was big in my formative years as a music fan. :tup :tup