Billy Joel

Honestly, I'm just going to review Billy Joel as a whole artist because he's like Lay's potato chips. You can't listen to just one of them. It started with my finding of the song "Piano Man" (which I had already heard, but who hasn't?) and listening to it. It just made me want to listen to more of this man that writes beautiful, poetic music. It's really what music should be. It's catchy and majestic, like watching a rainbow shimmer on the ripples of a cascading waterfall with a horse gracefully tossing its head next to it. It is like the new green grass of the spring after the rain and snow is all gone. It is a dance between two people so in love it brings tears to the eyes. I could go on like this, but I'll get to the point now.

A few (I think it has only been two or three) of Billy Joel's songs have been popularized by the show "Glee," which makes music by a certain artist into music by another artist (people more readily recognize that a song was on Glee than that it is by the real artist). They took the songs "Uptown Girl" and "New York State of Mind" and played them on their show. And neither was as good as the original. Do you know why? Because Billy Joel wasn't singing them.

The man has a fantastic live voice and plays the piano beautifully, it was like he was built for the stage. His songs make people cry, feel emotion, and just let loose. Seriously, listen to his live music. As I said before, this is what music should be. His music is deep and full of feelings. I'll put a link to a live one at the end of this post. His song "Piano Man" is a very good example of one of his songs, as it is one of the most popular ones. It is about people, lonely people, that come to see the piano man (which is Billy Joel) to make themselves feel better. They just want to forget about their lives for a while and get lost in the music.

To summarize my thoughts, you should all definitely listen to some Billy Joel. He is a fantastic pianist, lyricist, and singer. His songs, although made somewhat more popular by other people, will always be his own and will always inspire emotion and wonderment in audiences. Seriously, listen to him.

Billy Joel "Piano Man" Live in Toyko 2006:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sFlBJ1Jk3w
Billy Joel "Piano Man" Live 1975:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrAtrHa-QGo