Why is it popular to hate on Billy Joel?

[StrongBad]

Though I'm not a huge fan of the guy, I do think he's a decent songwriter and has some interesting records that I'll listen to every now and again. Yet it seems like the entire music critic community (professional and amateur) seem to look down upon him with scorn.

Maybe he's just a popular target to hit because he used to be uber-popular and is now seemingly less relevant as the years have passed, but even so I get the impression he's despised by a lot of people and don't get it.

[JVS]

1. Because he sucks!

[Parche]

2. I Love Billy Joel

I dont care what anyone says......He is awesome

:hi: :woohoo:

[VenusRising]

3. I don't hate Billy Joel.

I actually like his music a lot. He has gone back to writing classical piano pieces and I've only heard one of them, but I think he has a lot of talent.

:hi:

[StrongBad]

4. I've still got to check out his classical work

I've heard little snippets online but that isn't the proper way to listen to something.

He definitely knows his way around a piano - surely not talentless.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. My dear StrongBad!

I have always loved Billy Joel!

From his ballads to his hard-rocking songs, all are terrific!

I don't get the hate either...

:hi:

[pitohui]

6. because he's corny bad and they just overplayed that piano man song

sweet jesus, what an overblown POS and they played it like constantly in its day to the point where anyone who wasn't just hopelessly deaf HAD to hate the guy

no critic likes "corn"

[Westegg]

7. I'm not a huge fan, but the man has talent...

...and I'm old enough to remember the '70s, when I was a teen and he first got big with that album with "Bottle of Red, Bottle of White" on it-- okay, "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" was it? I was listening to Zeppelin, Dylan, Floyd, Sex Pistols, Clash, Talking heads and the Who at the time, but that was a first-rate album, and he's written and performed many excellent songs on other albums. Yeah, he's always been MOR/mainstream, but so what? I still throw on his live album "Songs From the Attic" from time to time and have been tempted to buy that deluxe release of the "Italian Restaurant" album whose title I can't remember just now. Maybe I'd be doing it for nostalgia purposes, but I suspect I'd find a lot of fine music there, too.

[StrongBad]

9. That album would be "The Stranger"

It was his biggest seller and had a lot of hits. "Scenes..." is probably one of his best songs too imo.

[Swede]

8. Still like him.

Good night Saigon - Billy Joel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Dl9Q4jCPg

We met as soul mates on Parris Island
We left as inmates from an asylum
And we were sharp, as sharp as knives
And we were so gung ho to lay down our lives

We came in spastic like tameless horses
We left in plastic as numbered corpses
And we learned fast to travel light
Our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight

We had no home front, we had no soft soap
They sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob Hope
We dug in deep and shot on sight
And prayed to Jesus Christ with all our might

We had no cameras to shoot the landscape
We passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes
And it was dark, so dark at night
And we held on to each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers we'd write

And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together

Remember Charlie, remember Baker
They left their childhood on every acre
And who was wrong? And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight

We held the day in the palm of our hand
They ruled the night, and the night
Seemed to last as long as six weeks...

...On Parris Island
We held the coastline, they held the highlands
And they were sharp, as sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive

And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together

[latebloomer]

21. Excellent song!

One of his best.

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. For the same reason it is popular to hate John Denver, George Jones,

and a whole slew of them. I find it funny that there are now so many Johnny Cash "fans"... My husband used to get teased for his love of old country all the time.

People like to be snobby.

[edbermac]

11. Along with Steve Miller, I like a few of his tunes.

The kind of guys who only have good 'greatest hits' albums. The regular ones have 1 or 2 good tracks and 11 or 12 tracks of pre-American Idol shit.

[WinkyDink]

12. Where is this popular?! For shame!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

13. Only the good die young....and he's still alive

Ipso Facto.

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. Because he's a mediocre piano player, a shitty composer, and crappy human being and he sucks.

Totally, totally, way way way, over-rated.

But, to give him some credit, nowhere near as over-rated as the modern day girl-whore pop-stars.

[briv1016]

15. I might be giving away more info then I should

but he hates his home town, which happens to be my home town.

[Kali]

16. something about his voice grates on my nerves

also don't care for the "style"

[hellbound-liberal]

17. I don't hate him but I have heard all of his music enough and I can't imagine

ever listening to him on purpose. I think he's a good "second tier" songwriter and he has done some very good songs. I just don't need to hear it anymore. I feel that way about a lot of people who have enjoyed "success" in the world of popular Top 40 music.

[latebloomer]

18. "Allentown"- great song with a strong populist message

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K62DdoFoNeg


Well we're living here in Allentown
And they're closing all the factories down
Out in Bethlehem they're killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line.

Well our fathers fought the Second World War
Spent their weekends on the Jersey Shore
Met our mothers at the USO
Asked them to dance
Danced with them slow
And we're living here in Allentown.

But the restlessness was handed down
And it's getting very hard to staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
aaaaaaah aaahhhhh ooooooooh ooooooh ohhhhhhh.

Well we're waiting here in Allentown
For the Pennsylvania we never found
For the promises our teachers gave
If we worked hard
If we behaved.

So the graduations hang on the wall
But they never really helped us at all
No they never taught us what was real
Iron and coke,
Chromium steel.

And we're waiting here in Allentown.
But they've taken all the coal from the ground
And the union people crawled awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah aaaaaaaaaaah aaaaaah.

Every child had a pretty good shot
To get at least as far as their old man got.
If something happened on the way to that place
They threw an American flag in our faaaaaaaace, oh oh oh.

Well I'm living here in Allentown
And it's hard to keep a good man down.
But I won't be getting up todaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy
aaaaaaaaaaah aaaaaaaaaaah aaaaaaaaah.

GUITAR SOLO

aaaaaaah aaaaaaah aaaaaaah oh oh oh.

And it's getting very hard to staaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

And we're living here in Allentown.

[jobycom]

19. Some people just like to hate. It doesn't matter who. nt

[Fran Kubelik]

20. I don't

I used to love him, and still rock out to him sometimes. :)

[leeroysphitz]

22. I used to love Billy Joel but one night after a show at Cobo Arena in Detroit in 1983 he

punched me in the back of the head and then ran off before I could see who it was.

That's why I hate him.