Do you consider Billy Joel as one of the greatest musical artists of all time?

At least reference the goat best songs.

Come on
Summer in highland falls


Running on ice


Somewhere along the line


Traveling prayer


Ain't no crime



I could go on, bottom line is I listen to mostly underground hip-hop and hardcore rock, IE Candiria....
But Billy Joel is my favorite musician of all time.
His paino is unmatched, his lyrics are really trend setting, nobody wrote lyrics and delivered them like Billy did in the 70's.
His internal rhyme schemes would later become perfected in hip-hop.

If I were to compare Billy Joel to any musician it would be MF Doom.
Ground breaking, versatile and utterly gutter.
 
GoatGoat said:
"All Time Great" means different things to different people of course. For me, it would mean someone that left an indelible mark with his artistry. While he is good, not sure he's done that. He's been around a while and shown some versatility, but I don't see what he's done that sets him apart from others with a lot of hits.

That being said, I just rented all his CDs from my city library and put them in my iTunes. I had forgotten how many good songs the guy has had. I kept around 35 songs which is close to as much as any artist collection I have.
Click to expand...

Seano said:
Those two paragraphs contradict each other.

Billy Joel has written and performed songs that receive airplay to this day and will for years to come.

His style was pretty original and he even managed to span a couple of different genres. (Piano Man and Uptown girl for example, are very different styles of songs)
Click to expand...

Sorry, but if you believe they contradict each other, I must not have communicated it clearly.
Cliffs
1st paragraph--Joel doesn't meet my definition of an all time great
2nd paragraph--He's still really, really good though
 
GoatGoat said:
"All Time Great" means different things to different people of course. For me, it would mean someone that left an indelible mark with his artistry. While he is good, not sure he's done that. He's been around a while and shown some versatility, but I don't see what he's done that sets him apart from others with a lot of hits.

That being said, I just rented all his CDs from my city library and put them in my iTunes. I had forgotten how many good songs the guy has had. I kept around 35 songs which is close to as much as any artist collection I have.
Click to expand...

Why not just download them online?
 
GoatGoat said:
Sorry, but if you believe they contradict each other, I must not have communicated it clearly.
Cliffs
1st paragraph--Joel doesn't meet my definition of an all time great
2nd paragraph--He's still really, really good though
Click to expand...

What, in your opinion ,makes a band or musician great?
 
jonahs grin said:
At least reference the goat best songs.

Come on
Summer in highland falls


Running on ice


Somewhere along the line


Traveling prayer


Ain't no crime

I could go on, bottom line is I listen to mostly underground hip-hop and hardcore rock, IE Candiria....
But Billy Joel is my favorite musician of all time.
His paino is unmatched, his lyrics are really trend setting, nobody wrote lyrics and delivered them like Billy did in the 70's.
His internal rhyme schemes would later become perfected in hip-hop.

If I were to compare Billy Joel to any musician it would be MF Doom.
Ground breaking, versatile and utterly gutter.
Click to expand...


Here we go...
 
Yeah as others said not even close
 
In a nutshell, Joel is a poor man's - a very poor man's - Elton John. Joel's career best songwriting never touched the best of Elton's first 10 albums. And as a vocalist and a piano player EJ was far and away superior.
 
I enjoy most of his music. But no, no he is not even close to being one of the greatest artists of all time.
 
half of you guys are hating because of songs like
"uptown girl"
But that's like hating on nas because of oochie Wally.
His genius was not in the songs that made him successful, but the unheard ones.
His live album "Songs in the attic"
Is his greatest album.
 
"Well its good to be a young man, and to live the way you please, cuz a young man is the king of any kingdom that he seeks.
There is an old and feeble man not far behind and know one day he's going to catch ya, somewhere along the line."

No one can touch a Joel verse, lyrically outside of the very elite.
 
He's arguably my favorite; I hold my opinion in very hard esteem, so it's a "yes" for me.
 
jonahs grin said:
half of you guys are hating because of songs like
"uptown girl"
But that's like hating on nas because of oochie Wally.
His genius was not in the songs that made him successful, but the unheard ones.
His live album "Songs in the attic"
Is his greatest album.
Click to expand...

Uptown Girl is just dated. It was a monster hit and sort of typified the sound of the 80s. Its a good song that people in this thread just don't care for.

I don't much care for Elvis. Does that mean he wasn't a special performer?

.
According to the RIAA, Billy Joel is the sixth best-selling recording artist in the United States
Click to expand...

Hit singles
from Piano Man
1974 'Piano Man' #25 US
from Streetlife Serenade
1975 'The Entertainer' #34 US
from The Stranger
1978 'Just the Way You Are' #3 US, #19 UK
1978 'Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)' #17 US, #35 UK
1978 'Only the Good Die Young' #24 US
1978 'She's Always a Woman' #17 US
from 52nd Street
1978 'My Life' #3 US (1979 release), #12 UK
1979 'Big Shot' #19 US
1979 'Honesty' #24 US
from Glass Houses
1980 'All for Leyna' #40 UK
1980 'It's Still Rock and Roll to Me' #1 US, #14 UK
1980 'Don't Ask Me Why' #19 US
1980 'Sometimes a Fantasy' #36 US
1980 'You May Be Right' #7 US
from Songs in the Attic
1981 'Say Goodbye to Hollywood' #17 US
1982 'She's Got a Way' #23 US
from The Nylon Curtain
1982 'Pressure' #20 US
1983 'Allentown' #17 US
from An Innocent Man
1983 'Uptown Girl' #3 US, #1 UK
1983 'Tell Her about It' #1 US, #4 UK
1983 'An Innocent Man' #10 US, #8 UK (1984 release)
1984 'The Longest Time' #14 US, #25 UK
1984 'Leave a Tender Moment Alone' #27 US, #29 UK (double A-side with Goodnight Saigon in the UK)
1985 'Keeping the Faith' #18 US
from Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2 (1973-1985)
1985 'You're Only Human (Second Wind)' #9 US
from The Bridge
1986 'Modern Woman' #10 US
1986 'This Is the Time' #18 US
1986 'A Matter of Trust' #10 US
from Storm Front
1989 'We Didn't Start the Fire' #1 US, #7 UK
1990 'I Go to Extremes' #6 US
1990 'And So It Goes' #37 US
from Honeymoon in Vegas soundtrack
1992 'All Shook Up' #27 UK
from River of Dreams
1993 'The River of Dreams' #3 US, #3 UK
1993 'All About Soul' #29 US, #32 UK


Guy did something right.
 
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