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Post by Jeff on Nov 29, 2005 23:12:44 GMT -5
Justin should get a kick out of this; dig that reggae version of "Only the Good Die Young"! I think the article is right on the money: Joel was a man out of time. But I'd still include him in the pop pantheon, despite his obvious flaws, for Vienna, Anthony's Song, and Honesty. Billy Joel: Oh, the squandered genius! www.slate.com/id/2131184/"Forget punk rockers and gangsta rappers: Billy Joel is pop music's angriest man... His songs have poured wrath on women ("Big Shot"), mom and dad ("My Life"), and virtually everyone else, including, curiously, angry young men ("Prelude/Angry Young Man"). Even his gentlest songs leak bile. "Honesty" seems tender enough until you listen closely and realize it's about how everyone in the world is a liar and a hypocrite." |
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Post by Betterout on Nov 30, 2005 11:04:44 GMT -5
This is just the kind of pseudo-snobbery I can't stand about Slate, Jeff. An MA in English or Journalism doesn't automatically make you an authority on everything, let alone anything. This piece is too smug for its own good. Of course Billy Joel is a genius. Of course he's given to excess and trying too hard to relate. And, yes, laughable attempts at even greater excess litter his career (he isn't really a classical composer or a hard rocker), as do the equally laughable attempts to relate (he isn't really a steel worker or a longshoreman). But all that does NOTHING to diminish the strength of his best work, his finest skills. His best stuff is at least as good as the next piano troubador, and in most cases better. The man has millions and millions of fans, including me, makinging him one of the most popular performers of all time. So, he's got to be doing something right. In my humble opinion (btw, the Slate author can't claim any shred of humility--stating opinions as facts), there's really no wasted talent in his work. There are moments of mindlessness, but not the mindless self-destruction the author holds against him. The author (and I guess Elvis Costello) is just wrong about this one.
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Post by Jeff on Nov 30, 2005 12:39:23 GMT -5
Wow! Radical misread on my part. I was just so sure that this critique of Joel mirrored your own. I remember you wondering whether he should be in the pantheon; I thought your reasons for doubt would be similar.
Slate is an opinion mag. I don't agree with 1/2 of what they write--especially Chris Hitchens, William Saletan, and Mickey Kaus write a lot of bullshit--but they always make me think. Hitchens is just way too arrogant, as are many of their writers. I can't argue with any aspect of your criticism of the website. I do like their art coverage, both graphic arts and music much of this time. This Jody Rosen is new to me.
Jeff
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