IT'S BETTER THAN DRINKIN' ALONE: The Official ILM Track-by-Track BILLY JOEL Listening Thread

I love how it's the FARC guerrilla war that made him crack.

My seventh grade class was one of those tasked with researching the events mentioned in the song; I dug it, but nobody in my class seemed to think either the song or the project was all that cool, because we weren't doing a song by MC Hammer or something.

Similar experience. My 10th grade teacher spent the period breaking down the song piece by piece. We had just finished our unit on 60's/70's history so we had learned some of the references. The class seemed bored, because the song was already ten years old and unknown to most of the class. I may have been the only Billy Joel fan in the class and I didn't care much for it. If you've never heard of Billy Joel, this just seems like another educational song that you'd see on a PBS show

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LESFuoW-T7I

The Downeaster 'Alexa' sings the struggles of a Long Island fisherman and the titular boat, with shades of "Allentown," and Ithzak Perlman appearing on violin. The synthy quality makes me think of Monkey Island, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. As the fourth single off Storm Front, it peaked at #57 on the Hot 100 (#18 on Adult Contemporary), and maybe got to #6 in Japan although Wiki can't agree with itself about that. The UK 12" is another wacky EP of Joel classics, with "An Innocent Man," "I've Loved These Days," and "Streetlife Serenader." The UK CD single swaps in an extra live version of "Downeaster," plus "Allentown" (fair enough) and, no joke, "Worse Comes To Worst," mislabeled as "Worse Comes to the Worst." Who was putting these things together?

The video shows Billy hanging around the pier, pretending to play the accordion part actually played by Dominic Cortese.

Says Wiki:

Joel was always sympathetic to the hard working men who worked the sea, even getting arrested during a protest supporting the Baymen. At one point Joel had underwritten a plan by his young boat captain to use his boat (Alexa Ray, a 46' custom downeaster) as a commercial fishing and charter fishing operation. As the two developed the plan, it became increasingly clear that the challenges facing a small commercial operation were greater than he had imagined. The idea was scrapped. It was not long after that this song came together.

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Unabashedly love this song. Pretty similar to "Allentown" in concept, like you said Dr. C, but both songs are also really good at matching the music with the setting. The vocal jump in each third line is a great touch too - those kind of vocal stretches have been lacking in the last couple albums. I can see people thinking the song is too serious and earnest, but it works for me. He plays it in concert a lot so I don't think I'm alone

I never knew the violinist was Ithzak Perlman! Also I just learned that the line is not "I've got bills to pay and children who need booze"

love it

My favorite Billy mode, lyrically speaking, and I love that it has such a huge sound

It sounds like squalls and ocean & i just really do unabashedly love it

I really like this song too. And if actual struggling fishermen hated it and found it inaccurate and/or patronizing, I don't want to know. In contrast with my attitude toward "Allentown."

love this song, Billy's great at embodying displaced workers, I bet The River is his fav Springsteen album. Billy's good at picking out little insider details, like stripers they can't fish anymore or chromium steel instead of just steel

lots of things I hear in this, obviously any nautical tragedy has to give The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald some props

right at the beginning there's a change that reminds me of the song "Brothers in Arms"by Dire Straits but overall the song that comes back to me is "The Highwayman" like where Billy reaches up for "there's no island left for an Is-land-ers like me" it reminds me of when Waylon's dambuilder says"they buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound"

this is a pretty good song! a tad ponderous but I can't fault him for wanting to show that he was taking this subject matter seriously. something about the swaddling off the production also takes the edge off his "grunty rock" delivery (which has been starting to become distracting for me over the last few records) and letting me just hear his voice and the melody. makes it seem oddly like something that could have, with a different arrangement, showed up on one of the 70s albums or at least nylon curtain. catchy, too.

not a fan of the drum sound though. curious if liberty's ever spoken about the way he was recorded over the years... this feels like he's consciously keeping it boneheadedly simple to reach the cheap seats in the stadium, but then in the land of click tracks (?) and digital isolation it just sounds boring and flat. maybe in 1989 it sounded exciting and fresh. it's not the most ridiculous "80s drum sound" record but it doesn't feel much like a drummer and singer-songwriter laying down basic tracks in the same room either.

I really like the run-together lines going into the chorus. This is actually pretty non-flashy clever lyric writing, because, if you'll notice, the verse-to-chorus transitions contain an internal rhyme:

Too proud to leave I worked my fingers to the bone / So I could own my Downeaster Alexa

I got people back on land who count on me / So if you see...

It's a bit like the double-duty syllable trick mentioned upthread - "you're the one that I depend upoooooonHonesty..." only it's less noticeable, and maybe a little more sophisticated.

Love this one so much too. Reminds me of a singer-songwriter from the early-to-mid 70s who used to write these character/plot-driven songs. Oh wat was his name. Had an album called "Streetside Lemonade" or something.

lots of things I hear in this, obviously any nautical tragedy has to give The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald some props

He's moved on from Sumner to Lightfoot!

I never knew the violinist was Ithzak Perlman!

Dumb trivia that you may have already found out: Due to legal issues, he's listed on the album only as "World Famous Incognito Violinist." Apparently, it was his only hit!

Does this song trigger those Amazon things? I don't know how they work anyway.

The only sour note for me is the YI YI YI YOOOOOs.

So, people actually like this one? I just hear it as part of a larger trend of Billy (and other boomer rockers) becoming immune to fun in the latter half of the 80s.

I get distracted by having a song about the hard rugged authentic elements told through such a synthetic "Back in the High Life" sound.

But epic!

Reminds me of "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key" and so on.

Quit trolling Atlantis, crypto.

A one dimensional, overly earnest dirge with no hint of redemption or hope, no silver lining. A song that no one would play if they saw it on the jukebox. Ay-yay-yay-yo.

Due to legal issues, he's listed on the album only as "World Famous Incognito Violinist."

Nope, didn't know that either, ha. doesn't seem like a good way to stay anonymous tho

A teeny tiny part of me wishes it built to a soaring chorus, but the rest of me likes it just the way it ... are?

not gonna say i agree with calstars, but it'd be interesting if he used a bridge to shade in a different side of the story - like maybe sketch one of the brief times he gets to spend with the family, show a few details of the small happiness that keeps him going or whatever. in a weird way, this plays like "the entertainer" - a series of long first-person verses all establishing the same basic point in different words.

a series of long first-person verses all establishing the same basic point in different words.

Haha I think you're gonna want to save that criticism for the next song, Dr. C

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BpSgZC2BkU

I Go To Extremes, the album's second US single, peaked at #6 on the Hot 100 (#4 Adult Contemporary) with low Top 40 performances in several other markets. To quote Wiki, "The music video consists of Joel and his backing band playing the song in a room. (...) In live concerts, Joel would often jokingly create new lyrics for the chorus, such as "I go for ice cream", and "I got a new wife on the cover of Life."[4][5] The song is believed to be about Joel's own lifestyle.[6] (...) The music video consists of Joel playing with musicians in a room."

https://img.discogs.com/MXMz1jH4x-dZHNP7gdDr9YglNa8=/fit-in/399x352/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4819410-1376503283-8972.jpeg.jpg

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PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH

The drum sound is eighties-tastic, no doubt. However, you can see why an uptempo rock number is placed as a palate cleanser after the sludgy rhythm of "Downeaster Alexa."

I mean, after four minutes of WHOMP..... WHACK..... WHOMP..... WHACK....., my ear appreciated some PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH PSSSH DSH. (It's amusing to remember that in those days, people still frequently listened to albums in sequence.)

Personally, I like his vocal performance on this one (though there are some appearances of what the Doctor calls the "'grunty rock' delivery").

In some places I hear a bit of Motowny/Spectorish flourish in the vocal melody. Consider the artful little trill in the third line of the chorus, like "it's all or nothing at a-a-ll." For some reason it reminds me of classic Motown like "Where Did Our Love Go" or something.

The first piano solo is tasty. The outro is excessive. But this is a very solid, well-written pop song.

the above photo of him having a tantrum really says it all

I suppose we can say he tears into these cliches with energy, but, like Whitney Houston's "So Emotional," the least emotional of #1 singles, "I Go to Extremes" doesn't go to any extremes.

Huh. I think the delivery of the earlier verses is generally calm, with the later choruses adding contrasting intensity (in the form of gruntiness).

Like I alluded to, I think this song has some of his laziest ever lyrics - saying the same thing ten different ways, little specificity. The music itself is fine, kind of bland, like an 80's tv show theme song (maybe specifically "Perfect Strangers")

Fairly generic, but livelier than a lot of the Bridge/Storm Front material we've heard thus far, and I like his melodic delivery of the opening lyric.

oh hey I remember this — i legit enjoy this one.
weird flashback of Mum being pissed off abt something & blasting this while vaccuuming <3

okay, that makes me like it a little more!

really doesn't do much for me though. the band has just been flattened out into a relentless and monotonous rhythm section to back up joel's vocal. karaoke rock. the hook's a C+ though the verse is decent enough. and once again, it's too damn long without enough to say (tho at least we do have clearly distinguished verse, chorus, and bridge parts).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSER85bXq2c

Shameless closes side one of Storm Front; Billy has claimed it was somehow inspired by Jimi Hendrix, but I'll leave that one up to you. It got to #40 on Adult Contemporary on what I think must be airplay alone, since it does not seem to have had a physical single release in the US. Here's a sleeve from an Australian promo release:

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However, it's best known through Garth Brooks's cover (with Trisha Yearwood on backing vocals), which appeared on the staggering, 14x-platinum Ropin' the Wind in 1991. As that album's second single, it the seventh of Garth's eighteen #1s on the Country charts. Unfortunately, Garth is one of those artists who isn't on Spotify and keeps a tight lid on YouTube leaks of studio cuts... so I can't link it just now. Wikipedia provides this useful text from a greatest-hits album's liner notes:

"Shameless" was the longest shot we took with a song. I was talked into becoming a member of a CD club...you know, the 40,000 CD's for a penny deal. (...) I was on the road for six months with no one to check the mail and came home to find six compact discs in my mailbox. Storm Front by Billy Joel was one of them. I hadn't listened to Billy Joel since the late seventies, probably since Glass Houses. I fell in love with the album and fell back in love with Billy Joel's music. One of his songs really captured me, a song called "Shameless." I kept watching it, and when he did not release it as a single, we contacted his people in the hopes that we could cut it. His people sent us a letter acknowledging that he knew who I was and was very honored that I was cutting it. That was quite a compliment for me then, as it is now. My hope is that Billy, as writer, hears this cut and says, "Yeah, man, the guy's got balls."

Billy discusses his feelings on country music, and does two or three impressions on the piano, in this 1995 clip.

https://img.discogs.com/VXDg2K5jJ_dRxOPMK0Taz8asJaQ=/fit-in/600x524/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4840932-1377263088-8230.jpeg.jpg

oh wait, duh, adult contemporary is always an airplay chart anyway

Brooks' cover >>> BJ's version. Brooks sounds like a better version of Billy Joel than Billy Joel does.

catching up:

“the downeaster ‘alexa’”: i’ve never heard this song before and it’s immediately a top five billy joel song. beautiful composition, beautifully arranged, beautifully sung

“i go to extremes”: i REMEMBER this song. idk why it’s this i recognize from my early childhood and not “we didn’t start the fire,” possibly one had more ac radio reign than the other (that’s all my parents listened to)? anyway, i don’t hate it, though everything about it is merely serviceable. it’s too long but idk my favorite parts of the song are the piano manning

“shameless”: contrasted with “downeaster alexa,” billy sings this song kinda terribly. brooks’ arrangement also has so much more breathing room and is generally much less....Intense. but it’s a pretty good song. didn’t expect to enjoy this much of storm front!

i remember saying i thought "i go to extremes" had vanished from radio and someone (alfred?) saying they heard it all the time to this day - maybe "fire," as something of a novelty song, declined a bit in AC airplay after its initial run while that one stayed around?

yeah I still hear "I Go to Extremes" on A/C radio while "Fire" has vanished.

also, dude apologizing for being a shitty boyfriend (whatever else "i go to extremes" might be about) is a pretty solid AC theme. i bet Delilah fields a lot of rambling, sweaty requests for it.

I grew up listening to the BJ version of "Shameless", and I only just heard the Garth Brooks version for the first time (though I could kind of predict what it would sound like). I think I prefer BJ's version instrumentally, and Garth's version vocally. Garth seems more at home with the melody, whereas Billy is awkward on a few lines. Both versions are good songs

Good song to do at karaoke, btw.

89 is a rough year, the mannerisms and bluster of 80s pop is so overblown yet somehow neutered and charmless by then

"I Go to Extremes" - Forgot about this one, even though it's a good song for what it is. Thought it was more of a Bridge-era song.

In some places I hear a bit of Motowny/Spectorish flourish in the vocal melody. - Remember when we were picking out the Ronnie song from each album? About 100 years ago?

"Shameless" - Heard the Garth version first. If you haven't heard it and can't find it, I'll tell ya, it sounds a hell lot like what you just heard here, except with Garth Brooks singing. Same way that his version of "Hard Luck Woman" is virtually indistinguishable from the Kiss original.

But that said, I do have fond memories of "Shameless" - especially the year I won the Nutt Butt Hutt fantasy football trophy. There was like a $175 prize and everything!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OZnzVMWJ4M

I miss the Ronnie songs. While Billy's tendency towards pastiche obviously long predated Phil Ramone's collaboration, I suspect the latter played a big role in executing/synthesizing those urges in what (through Glass Houses anyway) remained a fairly tight recording process of a handful of full-band takes to nail the basic tracks of each song. (I'm thinking of the vocal effects console with buttons for Billy labeled "Elvis," etc.). I wonder how much of the Storm Front material Billy heard in his head as taking inspiration from so-and-so, but which lost this somehow in the recording process... like he and Mick were unable to translate these sources into the idiom of late-80s rock without just smothering them under the standard Foreigner operating procedure. Hence, perhaps, the baffling invocation of Jimi with regard to this song - what??

Never knowingly heard the Garth version and, to my knowledge, never heard the Billy original either. Pretty boring.

I mean aren’t there a hundred and one artists that are more worthy of your time?

Here's that cover by the Oklahoman.

I mean aren’t there a hundred and one artists that are more worthy of your time?

― calstars, Friday, November 24, 2017

what?

calstar not everyone's built for the streets it's ok go home

garth's is better; thanks pplains. not wild about the effect on his voice, but the New Country arrangement has aged better here i think. just as artificial a studio creation maybe, but goes down smoother. not a bad song really; a little generic maybe but cool that it connected with an audience (or that garth was just that unstoppable at that point, idk). the most successful cover of a billy joel song, i'd say.