Classic Rock Vocal Showdown #8: Joel vs John

[jingle.boy]

Now it's time for the two 'piano men'.  Two totally different song-writing styles for sure.  I saw Elton John's Caesar's Palace show a few years back, and it was a surreal experience.  The only way I can describe it is by saying it was like stepping into his mind in the 70s when he was on the mother-of-all-high's.  It was weird.  Not bad, but not good either.  Just plain fuckin weird.

None-the-less, I know John's inventory more than I know Joel's.  Coupled with the fact that Joel seemed to cater to more to a pop/commercial audience, I'm going with the weirdo.

Could be another landslide here.

[masterthes]

Now, this will be a closer matchup, but I prefer Elton's voice a bit more than Billy

[KevShmev]

Billy Joel, by a lot.  I was never a huge Elton John fan, although he does have quite a few songs that I like.  Meanwhile, I have always loved a lot of Billy Joel's music, and he has one of my favorite voices in pop or rock.

[El Barto]

Don't know as either of them are necessarily better singers than the other. What I do know is that one wrote great lyrics, while the other had Bernie Topin write lyrics that were often completely incomprehensible.

Bonus points for writing a song about deflowering Catholic school girls.

Billy Joel

[Jaq]

This one might be closer, but I went for Joel. Really the only Elton John album I'm into is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, while I like most of Joel's discography.

[Cool Chris]

I'm glad someone else feels the same about Elton's (Bernie's) lyrics. I generally like his music, but never cared much for his songs, largely due to the lyrics and vocal melodies.

[DebraKadabra]

I love Billy Joel, don't get me wrong.  I have more of a connection with Elton John, and I couldn't care less if most of Bernie's lyrics were incomprehensible.

Elton FTW.