I think his voice sounds like 2024 Billy, he sounds older here and of course the studio sands away the rough edges from live performances. did detect auto-tune as well which tends to 'youngify' voices.
― never trust a big book and a simile (Neanderthal), Friday, 2 February 2024 18:51 (four months ago) link
The orchestra feels unnecessary, but then I realize we're talking about one of the last of the stadium acts. The piano dynamics would really stand out without all the backing.
Feels pre-Glass Houses in a good way. Maybe his first song without a "rock" band arrangement since then (though I'm not going back to the last few albums to check)?
― underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Friday, 2 February 2024 18:59 (four months ago) link
since when did he use co-writers? I don't care, but it's striking.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 February 2024 19:03 (four months ago) link
I missed that there were co-writers (hadn't read about it until just now). Interesting that it involves the same guy who wrote Pussycat Dolls' legit-good "I Hate This Part." Guessing we'll hear at some point how this song was built.
― underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Friday, 2 February 2024 19:13 (four months ago) link
my guess is the older you get, more time you spend on the toilet and sleeping, less time to write
― never trust a big book and a simile (Neanderthal), Friday, 2 February 2024 19:19 (four months ago) link
I like it, but man, it really reminds me of another song that I can't put my finger on.
The changes and orchestration remind me of Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry"...
― underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Friday, 2 February 2024 20:13 (four months ago) link
Which of the four of them wrote the line, "I see you now / As we're laying in the darkness"? Is the narrator wearing night-vision goggles(?)
― jake morgendorffer core (morrisp), Friday, 2 February 2024 20:54 (four months ago) link
Used the flashlight on his phone
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 2 February 2024 21:00 (four months ago) link
It's his muse he can see in the darkness.
― underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Friday, 2 February 2024 21:05 (four months ago) link
since when did he use co-writers?
i think this is more a case of the co-writers using him. ifi've got the story straight, they approached him, unsolicited, with an unfinished song and asked him to help top it off.
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 2 February 2024 22:20 (four months ago) link
Hope they put bread in his jar
― jake morgendorffer core (morrisp), Friday, 2 February 2024 22:54 (four months ago) link
I think I thought it was "Only Time Will Tell" by Asia, but that's it's squirmier than that.
― pplains, Saturday, 3 February 2024 04:14 (four months ago) link
First impression: better than "Now and Then," but not exactly grabbing me. Hate what I'm hearing as auto-tuning, and the cheesy "arena drums plus strings" production. The actual song seems fine if not special - I could see it being a bit of a grower if it closed out an album, at the tail end of a mixed bag of pastiches on Side B.
― not the one who's tryin' to dub your anime (Doctor Casino), Saturday, 3 February 2024 12:24 (four months ago) link
yeah it’s a bit “Where’s the Orchestra” isn’t it
― assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 3 February 2024 13:20 (four months ago) link
This damn song has been stuck in my head since the Grammys, and I’m not happy about it…
― atmospheric river phoenix (morrisp), Wednesday, 7 February 2024 03:23 (four months ago) link
So apparently "Vienna" is having a moment? My 16-year-old daughter is working up a cover of it. It's not my favorite key but I will get there somehow.
― Virginia Wolfman (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 9 February 2024 12:56 (four months ago) link
i finally heard the new song & i like it well enough. enough to be interested in hearing more, anyway. is Freddy Wexler any relation to Jerry Wexler? Freddy’s wikipedia entry starts at 2008 & eschews any real biographical info
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 9 February 2024 15:37 (four months ago) link
BJ likes the disposable vapes apparently
― calstars, Friday, 9 February 2024 15:49 (four months ago) link
So apparently "Vienna" is having a moment?
it's his tiktok hit!
― fact checking cuz, Sunday, 11 February 2024 22:32 (four months ago) link
It’s a good song.
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 12 February 2024 12:02 (four months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOf6CMbHPuA
Thru the ages
― Maresn3st, Friday, 16 February 2024 19:20 (four months ago) link
That was all right, but man, Billy. Don't give Elton any ideas.
― pplains, Saturday, 17 February 2024 00:30 (four months ago) link
i really really hate this guy and his music but ... i heard "Sleeping with the Television on" and didn't recognize it, so had to Shazam. really interesting to read everybody's thoughts on it here. i haven't listened to everything the man's made, but i agree this is a standout track, probably the best think i've ever heard from him. the rink organ is a shame but it's a pretty solid little power pop thing otherwise. can hear the comparisons to Joe Jackson but i think mostly it sounds like Squeeze in terms of the composition
― budo jeru, Sunday, 3 March 2024 00:16 (three months ago) link
killer song. my first karaoke performance coming out of the pandemic closure years!
― not the one who's tryin' to dub your anime (Doctor Casino), Monday, 4 March 2024 17:22 (three months ago) link
dunno if this was ever posted, but I loved this story about the struggle to make Piano Man a hit: https://keithyates.com/the-time-a-stiff-caught-fire/
― Vinnie, Sunday, 21 April 2024 00:48 (one month ago) link
Some might say a struggle best left alone
― calstars, Sunday, 21 April 2024 00:55 (one month ago) link
wow, that was quite a read. had no idea it played out like that at all.
― not the one who's tryin' to dub your anime (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 21 April 2024 03:11 (one month ago) link
Sometimes the authorities say,“Best leave this one alone”
― calstars, Sunday, 21 April 2024 03:21 (one month ago) link
It's better than leaving alone
― Vinnie, Monday, 22 April 2024 12:01 (one month ago) link
That was a great read!
― rendered nugatory (morrisp), Monday, 22 April 2024 14:01 (one month ago) link
did anyone watch the televised MSG 100 concert? watching now, idk i guess i’ma dork but it’s kinda nice
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 27 April 2024 21:44 (one month ago) link
Vienna was lovely <3
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 27 April 2024 21:45 (one month ago) link
That "Piano Man" story is readymade for a Netflix treatment. The scrappy group of Fresno longhairs who made Billy Joel a star
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 28 April 2024 02:49 (one month ago) link
I don't know if this belongs here, or on the Vampire Weekend thread, or on the Christgau thread, but there's an amusing pre-VW blog post by a young Ezra Koenig defending Billy Joel's honor against the snide attacks of Mr. Christgau, which segues into a rant about the pointlessness of negative reviews in general:
https://internetvibes.blogspot.com/2005/10/critical-beatdown.html
― o. nate, Friday, 31 May 2024 17:43 (two weeks ago) link
ha yeah I remember it! I think we discussed it a few years ago.
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 31 May 2024 17:54 (two weeks ago) link