An Explaination Part 1

“Some people hear my greatest hits and say they don’t like Billy Joel. If I only heard my hits I might not like Billy Joel either.”

-Billy Joel

Billy Joel is my favorite musician of all time. Just plain and simple I would rather listen to him then anything else and I get a bit of flack for it. So here I am to defend my love of his music; to defend the fan favorite and critically hated “Piano Man”.

Billy Joel was the first discography I ever completed. The first CD I bought with my own money was Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Vol III. So before I get into the more universal defense let me explain the special relationship I have with this music. Every person who listens to music intensely will have a story about the album or song that was their musical awakening. Mine was with Billy Joel. Growing up I mostly remember listening to music in the car, The Beatles 1 and the Once Upon A Song compilation are two of the ones that I remember being played the most regularly. Of all the CDs my favorite was Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Vol I & II. Now it wasn’t with these songs that I had that “AH HA” moment. It was after being a little sick of listening to the same CDs over and over I went looking through my parent’s collection and found their copies of The Stranger and Glass Houses.

First I decided to listen to The Stranger; it had more songs that I already knew so I figured I should finish it first. The first four songs I listened to again even though I had heard them hundreds of times on Greatest Hits Vol I. Then I got to the song Vienna and was very impressed, not blown away (this song would be come important to me later in my life) but very impressed. I finished up the CD and moved on to Glass Houses. Now this one had seven songs I didn’t know compared to the three on The Stranger.

I listened to the first four songs with only Sometimes a Fantasy (a ridiculous and fun song that is about phone sex) to distract from the songs I already knew. Then I got to track five, All for Leyna. I finished it and instead of proceeding to the next song I hit back and listened to it again, and again, and again, and again… My mind was blown and so much clicked. I all of a sudden was thinking about music in a whole different way. It was no longer a passive entertainment that I did while playing video games or while on a family trip. Before this people would ask what type of music I liked and I would say “I don’t know. I don’t really listen to music that much” this song changed all that. I was captivated the piano, by the bass, by the synth, by the singing (lyrics not so much it would take me years to realize my favorite song ever was about obsessing over a one night stand) just completely captivated by the music.

I have listened to every recording by Billy Joel and have not disliked a single one. I want the reader to understand why I am here to defend. I want those who will still hate Billy Joel after I expose you to some of his less known works that it is ok to still hate because I doubt most can love this music like I do. I want everyone to understand where I stand and that I will always be a champion for this music. I also want people to understand that just because I like all the songs doesn’t mean I think they are all great. I will be examining why others may be repulsed by his music while other are drawn to it.

So tune in Wednesday folks to see part two of my explanation of why I like Billy Joel