I debated posting this in MPSIMS because I have nothing of great critical import to say other than. . . gosh golly, is this guy’s pop canon great or what?
I picked up River of Dreams on CD the other day (formerly only had it on tape) and I’m just marveling at how solid his music stayed right to his purportedly last rock album. I’m sure cynics would scoff at comparing *Stormfront * or *ROD * with his peak stuff from the seventies, and you’ll always find a weak tune or two in the later albums. . . but his first couple of albums were kind of spotty too, in my humble opinion. I just wanted to say if River of Dreams does prove to be his last contemporary music album, well ga damn you could do a lot worse than that.
There are CDs you keep handily near your home player or in your car at all times, without fail. Glass Houses and Songs in the Attic are two of these for me. Are there other shameless BJ lovers on the Dope? That last was a gift for you quoting wits.
Oh dear yes. I had a biiiiiig Billy Joel phase when I was in high school. Glass Houses was my favorite album, too. I listened to River of Dreams a lot, but I have to say, it does seem like it has “too many notes.” There are too many instruments doing too much–I think maybe he was trying to make up for his early albums on which some of the songs were basically unintentional a cappella.
You betcha I’m a Billy Joel fan ! I have always loved his music. “Only the Good Die Young” takes me right back to the summer of ‘78, trail riding on my first horse with a little transistor radio hangin’ on the saddle horn.
His Complete Hits Collection is one of my favorites in my collection.
Big Billy Joel fan here too; my favorite songs are Lunatic and Piano Man.
One time I heard of a professor at some college teaching a world history course based on We Didn’t Start the Fire (i.e. going through and studying every event mentioned in the lyrics), which sounds like it’d be a lot of fun.
Oh, this reminds me of something. I hope you don’t mind a slight…
[hijack]
Does anyone know what exactly “Captain Jack” refers to in Captain Jack? I’ve heard some people say it’s a drug dealer or a drug itself. Anyone know for sure?
[/hijack]
52nd Street is absolutely one of my favorite albums. I went through a big Billy Joel “phase” during high school (79-82). This was one of the first albums that I bought. I still know most of the lyrics by heart, and that is a rarity for me. One of my favorite amusement park rides at Hersheypark played the album nonstop…I rode it for an hour every time I visited.
Man, I love Billy Joel. I’m always on the hunt for his albums in the bargain bins of secondhand stores, which sounds cold, but there it is. I bought Glass Houses on a whim for five dollars after having heard no songs of his but “Only the Good Die Young” and “New York State of Mind” – TOTALLY worth it.
You say this like there is something to be ashamed of. We had a pit thread once where someone was comparing liking truly has-been bands to Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, and Neil Diamond. Others quickly pointed out that each of these performers still sells out huge arenas that the “popular” bands of today aren’t even allowed to perform in. It is like a bad joke where everyone feels ashamed for liking these legends while, in reality, most other people feel exactly the same way.
I saw Billy Joel at Boston’s Fleet Center a few years ago. Concerts ran for several days, they were all sold out and it was a great time for all involved. I never felt ashamed and neither should.
Ashamed, *hail * no. I do have guilty pleasure bands I like, of course (The Bee Gees, let’s say), but even with them I’m happy to “embrace the cheese.” I think maybe when I posted the thread I was a trifle hesitant, subconsciously, perhaps wondering if as cerebral a place as the Dope Board might not be a bit cynical as to the artistic merits of a pop superstar like BJ. Maybe that’s what you detected in my tone or in the thread title.
Corporate Hippie, I certainly don’t mind the hijack-- for a long time I thought it might be Jack Daniels. But then I thought, would Jack Daniels be a surburban kid’s lubricant of choice?
Captain Jack will get you high tonight
And take you to your special island
Captain Jack will get you by tonight
Just a little push and you’ll be smilin’
I’d say it’s the drug he’s talking about. The dealer is going to get his money for the drug, and leave. I don’t see the dealer ‘pushing’ the drug into him.
Count me as a fan, too. I have most of his singles and albums (on vinyl and CD) , and a couple of bootlegs, and quite a few of his videos I taped off TV, as well as a documentary on the making of “ROD” and possibly his appearance on “The Actors’ Studio.”
My favorites are “Allentown”, “Get It Right The First Time”, “Captain Jack”, “Movin’ Out”, “Uptown Girl” and “Baby Grand” (this one makes me cry).
I saw The Four Seasons attempt to play “Uptown Girl” at the Skydome in Toronto, at one of the first concerts ever held there, all oldies acts. And one of the most fun things I’ve ever done in public is when I browbeat a bunch of guys into singing “The Longest Time” in six-part harmony on the way back to the car from karaoke night. People in the street applauded.
I am gonna vote for “You’re My Home,” because she was you know. That one still leaves pieces of my heart strewn about. Come back without Sir Elton, I’ll pay 200 bucks a seat.
Been a fan since I first heard “Piano Man” in March of 1974. Had to go out and buy the single.
My favorites include: “I Go to Extremes”, “Only the Good Die Young”, “Piano Man”, & “You May Be Right”.
Just curious: What the hell song is Lunatic? I have every album Billy Joel ever released and I don’t know of a song with that name. Perhaps you’re talking about You May Be Right ("…But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for…")?
I really like him as well, but he’s been wearing on me over the past few years. I can now only listen to a fairly select group of his songs. His fairly terrible voice means that the “average” songs that other singers can get away with simply grate on my nerves. I think he’s really a storyteller, and not a singer.