# Billy Joel vs. Elton John

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-joel-vs-elton-john/546994>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 17, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-joel-vs-elton-john/546994 "2010-07-17T04:25:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-joel-vs-elton-john/546994/61 "2010-07-20T19:30:09Z")

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Ooh, neck and neck after 123 votes. I voted Billy Joel, but the one Elton John song I always really enjoyed was “Burn Down the Mission” on his live 11-17-70 album. It’s a lot different than most of his other, more sugary, work.

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**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-joel-vs-elton-john/546994/62 "2010-07-20T19:58:29Z")

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Then may I suggest you listen to [this performance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSm-l3Bo3Cw&feature=related) of _Burn Down The Mission_ from a concert Elton did in 2002 to benefit the Royal Academy of Music in London. (I’ve posted this video and _Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting_ from the same performance on the board here before, so my apologies if it seems redundant to anyone who’s seen it before).

In my opinion Elton’s singing and playing better than ever.

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**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-joel-vs-elton-john/546994/63 "2010-07-21T02:30:01Z")

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> [@DChord568](#):
>
> The immense popularity of Billy Joel will forever remain a mystery to me.

Me too. I don’t think he’s in the same league as Elton.

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**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-joel-vs-elton-john/546994/64 "2010-07-22T05:41:26Z")

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I was looking for a “both suck” category, but since I had to choose between the two, I had to go with Joel.

There are some of his songs I can actually still listen to. Elton’s 70’s catalogue has aged terribly (IMHO) and I turn the station every time I hear one while driving.

I believe the beginning of the end for me and Elton was when they had Elton John week on American Idol a few years ago. When that girl from Hawaii sang “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, it was over for me. Philadelphia Freedom? suck. Crocodile Rock? Suck. I could go on and on. It hit me like a fart in church. All of a sudden, Elton sucked.

I can still listen to Rocket Man, Your Song, and that’s it.

FTR, I don’t go out of my way to listen to Billy Joel either.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-joel-vs-elton-john/546994/66 "2014-07-17T23:12:37Z")

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