Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
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Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
Or say singer/songwriter if you don't like Billy Joel.
And to some extent during the 90s, 00s.
Ed Sheeren?
And to some extent during the 90s, 00s.
Ed Sheeren?
#3
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
If he still wrote music, it could still be Billy Joel.
It's not like he slowly faded away. His last two albums were phenomenal and damn successful.
It's not like he slowly faded away. His last two albums were phenomenal and damn successful.
#4
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
Might as well ask here: Why has Joel been so critically denigrated? I'm not his biggest fan, but he's a fine lyricist and musician.
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
Jason Robert Brown, except he's a Broadway composer. He's said he was heavily influenced by Joel and once did a project covering a number of his songs.
Here are a couple of songs from JRB's Songs for a New World:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lxOMs9KvoKk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Iy2skMYODwc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Here are a couple of songs from JRB's Songs for a New World:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lxOMs9KvoKk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Iy2skMYODwc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
I like Joel, but Paul Simon has always been a better singer songwriter and he's still at it. Just had a new album come out.
#7
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
Really hard to find another Billy because nobody really wants that style anymore than didn't already grow up with Billy and will just play his music when they want a fix.
Last edited by hdnmickey; 03-17-17 at 08:45 PM.
#8
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
I think Ed Sheeren is a good choice since he's a frequent Grammy nominee and very popular and successful (especially in Great Britain). Another less-popular heir is Gavin DeGraw who sometimes tours with and opens for Billy. Here's a shot I took of the two of them together a couple of years ago :
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
Ed Shereen is awful. His songs literally sound like the caterwauling of a whiny bitch. He has zero good songs and the frequency of their airplay is evidence that payola still exists.
How about someone like Freedy Johnston or Ben Folds?
How about someone like Freedy Johnston or Ben Folds?
#13
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
I think the proper answer is "nobody". Not because Billy Joel is some irreplaceable icon of god-like proportions (although I do enjoy his music quite a bit) but because the music industry is more interested in either pushing artists into specific target demographics or cashing in and getting out quick with flash in the pan pop success. The record industry simply doesn't need a Billy Joel type to make money.
Sure, there are dozens of guys out there, toiling away in coffee houses, bars, etc. trying to stand out among the tens of thousands of acts on Bandcamp, CDBaby and other online outlets, but they are doomed to be forever lost in the shuffle, farts in a windstorm of biblical proportions. You may find your own personal Billy Joel out there somewhere, but that person will never touch the lives the original did.
Sure, there are dozens of guys out there, toiling away in coffee houses, bars, etc. trying to stand out among the tens of thousands of acts on Bandcamp, CDBaby and other online outlets, but they are doomed to be forever lost in the shuffle, farts in a windstorm of biblical proportions. You may find your own personal Billy Joel out there somewhere, but that person will never touch the lives the original did.
#14
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
So not his last two. Storm Front goes back to 1989, which is I why I was posting earlier that he just stopped making new music because it wouldn't chart anymore. That's been true since the mid 90's after River of Dreams. Which is probably why his last album (Fantasies & Delusions) was a classical release.
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
How about that guy who was on SNL recently? Father Misty somebody. He blew me away because he seemed extremly sincere. No irony. And was clearly very James Taylor influenced.
#17
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
A few that come to mind who are similar in terms of popularity, style (not "sound"), and both praise and scorn:
John Mayer
Marcus Mumford
Ray LaMontagne
and some of the country-lite pop-oriented singer-songwriters such as
Keith Urban
Luke Bryan
John Mayer
Marcus Mumford
Ray LaMontagne
and some of the country-lite pop-oriented singer-songwriters such as
Keith Urban
Luke Bryan
Last edited by creekdipper; 03-21-17 at 06:11 AM.
#18
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
So not his last two. Storm Front goes back to 1989, which is I why I was posting earlier that he just stopped making new music because it wouldn't chart anymore. That's been true since the mid 90's after River of Dreams. Which is probably why his last album (Fantasies & Delusions) was a classical release.
I agree with Jason in that nobody is popular enough to really fit. Maybe the closest thing is Taylor Swift, but even she has help in writing songs.
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
#20
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
Essentially the closest thing you get are the more rock oriented guys in country music. Which is why I think more than a few singer/bands essentially switched to country by the end of the 90's. Even Bon Jovi and Def Leppard put out country flavored tunes/albums.
#21
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
So not his last two. Storm Front goes back to 1989, which is I why I was posting earlier that he just stopped making new music because it wouldn't chart anymore. That's been true since the mid 90's after River of Dreams. Which is probably why his last album (Fantasies & Delusions) was a classical release.
That's like saying this is the last or latest album by Bach.
#22
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
Let's be clear about one thing: Fantasies & Delusions wasn't "Billy Joel's last album". It was an album of classical compositions that he wrote. He doesn't even play on it.
That's like saying this is the last or latest album by Bach.
That's like saying this is the last or latest album by Bach.
#24
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
I am far from a Joel scholar. I have not examined his albums and lyrics to gauge their authenticity. I don't even own most of his albums. I just like some of his music, and his lyrics are often very smartly conceived and acerbically delivered.
No doubt Joel is wealthy and lives in a gilded glass bubble far removed from the blue collar world about which he writes, but so does Springsteen, whom the article's author obviously admires. I prefer Springsteen's music, too, but don't see him as morally superior to, or more genuine than, Joel.
#25
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Re: Question : Who Would Be The Billy Joel Of This Day And Age?
Yes, that article was alluded to in the New Yorker article to which I linked. The gist of it is that Joel and his music are phony, shallow, sanctimonious; that Joel is a pretender.
I am far from a Joel scholar. I have not examined his albums and lyrics to gauge their authenticity. I don't even own most of his albums. I just like some of his music, and his lyrics are often very smartly conceived and acerbically delivered.
No doubt Joel is wealthy and lives in a gilded glass bubble far removed from the blue collar world about which he writes, but so does Springsteen, whom the article's author obviously admires. I prefer Springsteen's music, too, but don't see him as morally superior to, or more genuine than, Joel.
I am far from a Joel scholar. I have not examined his albums and lyrics to gauge their authenticity. I don't even own most of his albums. I just like some of his music, and his lyrics are often very smartly conceived and acerbically delivered.
No doubt Joel is wealthy and lives in a gilded glass bubble far removed from the blue collar world about which he writes, but so does Springsteen, whom the article's author obviously admires. I prefer Springsteen's music, too, but don't see him as morally superior to, or more genuine than, Joel.