So I've recently been thinking (I know, thinking can be a very dangerous thing to do,) and I've come to the conclusion that Billy Joel should rank in the top five of American born recording artists. Seriously, think of four other American musicians/groups that rank ahead of Joel. Okay there's Elvis. That's a given. There's the Beach Boys. Then,(well not then in terms of rank per say, but just then) there's Johnny Cash. And there's Ray Charles. After that, who is there, really? Buddy Holly was great and he revolutionized rock'n roll, but his career was cut short. Then who??? Chuck Berry??? Michael Jackson??? Bruce Springsteen??? Jimi Hendrix??? The Doors??? Nirvana??? I would rank Billy Joel above all of them.
Take some time and go through Joel's entire repertoire. Sure, we all know about Piano Man and various songs on his greatest hits (New York State of Mind, We Didn't Start the Fire, Uptown Girl,) but many of his deep cuts are absolutely brilliant. I've been listening to his live performances throughout the 70's on youtube and I've got to say that they're some of the more impressive live performances I've ever heard. His virtuosic piano playing combined with impressive vocal control and entertaining audience interaction
In addition to his energetic live performances, Joel had (and still has) he's been able to produce quality music ranging in many decades and genres. For example, a few months ago I sang some karaoke with some friends. I believe over the course of the evening that four different Joel songs were played. They were all great songs, and they all sounded entirely different. Think about it. He wrote a ballad that won a Grammy for song of the year (Just the way you are (yes I'm adding parenthesis within parenthesis, but I thought you should know that I don't think that "Just the way you are" is close to his best ballad. Listen to She's got a Way, And so it Goes, or Lullaby and I think you'll agree.)), Mainstream Rock, Doo-Wop (Basically the Entire An Innocent Man Album,) jazzy pop, (Zanzibar in addition to New York State of Mind), and even country (Listen to the Piano Man album, there's banjos, and steel guitars in several of the tracks.) And he did them all well.
So I invite you to take a close look at what Joel has done (I would place emphasis on his first seven or eight albums) and compare it with some of the other American greats. I truly think you'll be surprised by the quality of Joel's music. You might not rank him in the top five like I have, but you'll probably walk away with a greater appreciation for him.
As a side note, I mistakenly omitted Joel's 2001 Album, Fantasies and Delusions. I think that this album is a perfect example of Joel's versatility. I mean how many times has a rock star released an album containing classical music that would fit just nicely in the Romantic Period???
A second side note, i apologize if you dislike my frequent use of parenthesis and hyperlinks, but that's just how I write.
Spring Training is underway. In fact, teams are already scrimmaging each other. I've gotta admit I'm really excited for this season. I really feel that Atlanta (for those who don't know they're like my favoritest team like ummm ever) has a great shot at making the playoffs for the first time since 2005 (that 18 inning playoff game still gives me a bad taste in my mouth.) Although it saddens me that this will be Bobby Cox's last season, I feel that all of the variables for a special season are in place. They have a solid starting pitch staff with Kawakami being the only real question mark among starting pitchers. I'm excited that the Braves will not have to hit against Billy Wagner (who's dominated the Braves hitters in the past.) Takashi Saito should also be a good addition. Put that pitching staff with a potentially dangerous lineup and the Braves have the potential for a very special season. I know that Troy Glaus at 1B is a big question mark and Chipper Jones is coming off of an extremely poor 2nd half last season, but their lineup should have no real holes. Their outfield should be the best they've had since the departure of Andruw Jones with Melky Cabrera and Nate McLouth entering their primes, and Jason Heyward potentially being a candidate for ROY. Add that with a solid middle infield (Escobar and Prado had solid 2009 campaigns) and the Braves could reclaim what's rightfully theirs (1st place in the NL East.)
So recently I've rediscovered the greatness of Pandora. The great thing about the site is that you can discover artists that you're either not familiar with or have neglected to listen to in the past. For instance when I was listening to artists similar to Randy Newman (yeah I think Randy Newman's music is pretty awesome, ya wanna fight about it???) I discovered this artist named Dr. John. Now I don't think he's really a doctor, but he can play a mean piano. If you really like music and appreciate a variety of genres I'd certainly reccomend it. I've got genres ranging from Classical (The Romantic Period), to Bluegrass, to Modern Rock, to Christian. I never get bored with it.
While I'm on the topic of discoveries, I've come across this game on Facebook (it's this website where you can post information about yourself and network with all of your friends, but that's not important now) called Bejewleled. I've gotta say, who knew that putting a variety of jewels in lines of three could be so fun? What's even more amazing are the scores that some of my friends can rack up in one minute. I mean seriously guys (and gals), 350,000 points??? How many hours per day do you have to practice to rack up a score like that?
On that note I think it's time to sleep. Night night.
