*** 1970's Album Draft - Commentary Thread ***

[senorsheep]

Ooh, ooh.... ELP, the one Keith plays in this vid?:

Winner!

[BuckyBuckner]

GP is fantastic, but depressing as hell. Lord, did GP have some demons.

Yes he did. And that album is depressing as hell. But that's how all good country music should be. I think befriending Keith Richards only made it worse. There was a really documentary made about him in 2004 called Fallen Angel.

[ManCalledFoot]

Winner!

Yeah, that one had too distinctive a sound.. it really colored ELPs "Works" and "Love Beach" (gag), the same way it was too strong on the Zep LP. And Stevie Wonder overused it too, especially on "The Secret Life Of Plants"

Right after that came the Fairlight sampler, which also got overused; Gabriel in particular built whole albums around it.

BTW happy 69th birthday Rod Stewart!

[TheGaffer]

I didn't realize Clapton redid that song specifically for the commercial, which is interesting, because I always liked that version anyway.

[TheGaffer]

I posted this in the draft forum, because I was absent at the time, but a quick comment on Billy Joel's Turnstiles: It has what I consider to be Joel's one perfect pop song, "New York State of Mind," which is just terrific, that slow piano, the great strings, and the lyrics. It's perfection. It also has "Summer, Highland Falls," "Angry Young Man," and the one epic number of his that really cooks, "Miami 2017," which is a hoot.

[Erik]

The 1970 After Midnight is orders of magnitude better than the beer commercial version.

[Erik]

I posted this in the draft forum, because I was absent at the time, but a quick comment on Billy Joel's Turnstiles: It has what I consider to be Joel's one perfect pop song, "New York State of Mind," which is just terrific, that slow piano, the great strings, and the lyrics. It's perfection. It also has "Summer, Highland Falls," "Angry Young Man," and the one epic number of his that really cooks, "Miami 2017," which is a hoot.

I always thought of that one as a transitional album. There are elements of the meandering style of his first two records, but also some tighter pop and rock outings that would become the norm by The Stranger.

[Erik]

I know all of this non-52nd Street Billy Joel ephemera because my college roommate sophomore and junior years was fanatical about Billy Joel. He played Turnstiles, The Stranger and Glass Houses constantly (though not 52nd Street for some reason). He even bought a harmonica and a harmonica neck holder so he could perform "Piano Man" on piano and harmonica.

[Pogues]

Three Imaginary Boys - The Cure (1979) - not into them at all

In other shocking news, the sun rose in the east today.

[Friarfan]

I like Billy Joel.

There, I said it

[Erik]

After Midnight is a JJ Cale song, not an Eric Clapton song. The fact that he stole it and then sold it out for a shitty beer commercial is just Clapton at his finest. Man, fuck that guy.

I don't think Cale minded. They did an album together a few years ago.

Not that the beer commercial thing was necessary, but JJ Cale had a much bigger audience because Clapton covered "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" than he would have otherwise.

[BuckyBuckner]

I like Billy Joel.

There, I said it

Me too. Sometimes a Fantasy is my favorite Billy Joel song. The drum fills in that song are top notch.

[Mithrandir]

The 1970 After Midnight is orders of magnitude better than the beer commercial version.

Disagree. I like the slower pace of the newer version much more.

[senorsheep]

I like Billy Joel.

There, I said it

He's a weird dude. He's a top notch pop songwriter, but it obviously kills him to be perceived only as a top notch pop songwriter. He desperately wants to be in the Springsteen/ Dylan/ Simon club, but the harder he tries to show he belongs there, the more his talent is exposed. That's just not his wheelhouse - it's too bad he can't be content to be in the Neil Diamond club.

[Mithrandir]

I like Billy Joel.

There, I said it

Who doesn't like Billy Joel? Dude makes some damn good music!