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Billy Joel.....The Piano Man, and my Indoctrinated Youth.

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I like him, but I don't like any of the songs in the OP except Pressure.

The Stranger, 52nd Street, Innocent man are the albums I like best.

Tell Her About It is the best advice song ever.
 

Mathaou

legacy of cane
edit: that was a long post, sorry GAF, just had to get it off my chest

Billy Joel is my favorite artist. He's one of the biggest influences of how I play piano, and I learned from essentially learning his catalog. I started out easy with things like "She's Always a Woman" and "Vienna". But then I learned to play his harder pieces like "Miami 2017" and "New York State of Mind". I think I can play like 20 of his songs from memory alone.

He always talked about how chords were the foundation of his songs, and this became my mantra for essentially any song I learned how to play.

He rocked the piano and taught me how to rock it as well. Taught me how to sing. Got me my first girlfriend because I played one of his songs at an open mic.

I do think that Cold Spring Harbor is his most underappreciated album, however. A very personal album with beautiful songs and poetic lyrics (he mocks this album now for the most part but I still love it). But yeah, my dad grew up in New York and he showed me Billy Joel. My all time favorite.

Top 5 songs:
Miami 2017
New York State of Mind
Tomorrow is Today
Summer Highland Falls
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
 

hampig

Member
Grew up on him, had a period of not being interested in his music at all, and have finally come back to it. Vienna is my current favorite, but a lot of the songs I really love I actually don't know the names to. I've just heard them so much through my family that I know them word for word, but have no idea bout what album they're on or the name of them.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
Piano man is currently playing on the radio at work. One of you did this.
 
Piano man is currently playing on the radio at work. One of you did this.
Well that, Scenes from a Italian Restaraunt and Movin Out are always going to be on the radio, sometimes in succession. But yeah I may have called it in.

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Uptown Girl, Piano Man, for the longest time, new York state of mind...love Billy Joel. He looks like a local sports writer from here in LA named Bill Plashke.

I get what you're saying about indoctrination to a musical artist...if you were born in the early 80s in LA, you probably know every word to the albums The Chronic and Doggystyle.
 
"Don't ask me why" is magnificent. I've been dipping my toes into Joel a bit lately, and as far as I can tell he's a pretty masterful song writer. I've had a lot of "Oh thats a Billy Joel song?" moments.

I've always thought that writing a hit catchy song is the hardest thing to do in music. More so than technical ability or proficiency in multiple instruments. Billy Joel has so many great songs, he's a pretty exceptional talent.
 
"Don't ask me why" is magnificent. I've been dipping my toes into Joel a bit lately, and as far as I can tell he's a pretty masterful song writer. I've had a lot of "Oh thats a Billy Joel song?" moments.
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See that's what I've been going through recently, because I mean he has so many songs that I know, but the title I couldn't tell you if my life depended on it.

Miami 2017 for example, always heard it but would never have guessed in a million years it's was the one about the apocalyptic ending of NYC.
 
Anyone else have an appreciation for Temptation (from the Bridge)?

It's something of an underloved album track, but a few years back I just got absolutely hooked on it - the pounding emotive chords intro and the urgent breathless vocal. One of his more underrated greats I'd say. They're afraid that I'm losing my touch.. But she's such a temptaaatiooon
 
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