I had the pleasure of seeing their Face 2 Face tour here in Saint Paul back on May 5. One of the best shows I've ever seen, both of these guys are musically on a whole 'nother level. Two bona fide living legends. Who do you like better? My vote is for Elton.
You need to listen to something besides what the radio plays then, and besides....Elton isn't schmaltzy??? Jesus W. Christ on a backhoe..."Someone Saved My Life Tonight", "Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word", and "Harmony"??? Dude.... I've seen the Face 2 Face tour twice. They're both amazing. My vote goes to Billy for two reasons. One, he's a fellow NYer. Two...he writes ALL the parts of his songs. Elton doesn't write his own lyrics. Bernie Taupin does. In that aspect, Joel is the better songwriter.
Right. If Elton wrote his own songs he might get my vote. Billy Joel has "piano man" though so maybe not.
Yea, but for every "Piano Man" Billy has a "Goodnight Saigon" to counter it. NOTHING Elton write ever matched that song, IMO.
They are both schmaltzy, but Joel is way worse. Good definition from wikipedia: In American English, schmaltz (adj. schmaltzy) has also an informal meaning of excessively sentimental or florid music or art or maudlin sentimentality. Its earliest usage in this sense dates to the mid 1930's. Elton redeems himself cause he's flamboyantly gay. Gotta respect that. He don't care. Joel has no excuses.
This was tough. I gave Billy Joel the nod mostly because of how much I like the song "Piano man". It was close.
Billy gets my vote. One of my favorite artists and he puts on an excellent live show. Elton is too much a Diva... and I'm not saying that because of his sexual preference. Billy may have a few Schmaltzy songs, but he has plenty that are not. He also is a big supporter of his community and has a genuine interest in teaching music to others. I think Elton is more about the attention and the money.
It's close But I'll take Elton John cuz he has a better voice and 'Don't let the sun go down on me' is one of my favorite songs ever. I've always wanted to them live.
Elton John hands down. Even with all the CRAP *cough*Candle in the wind *cough* he did, his early stuff easily outweighs both his crap and ALL of Billy Joel's. Sorry, I dont think its just coincedence his Initials are BJ.
Goodbye yellow brick roooooaaaaddddddd Elton. I only like two Billy Joel songs and thats "We Didnt Start the Fire" and "Piano Man".
We Didn't Start The Fire is an abortion. I forgot about that one. Elton should win cause he didn't write that song! Oh, and Billy supports his community so that when he gets pulled over for drunk driving, the cops let him off...until he drives his car into someone's house!!!
I truly enjoy and appreciate both performers. I voted for Elton John because my iPod more frequently choses him. Btw, I love the song "Harmony" to the haters Tough poll for sure. Both are brilliant musicians with storied lives who continue to contribute to both the industry and communities. Great idea for this poll, btw. For what it's worth, "Grey Seal" is a tune that has not been mentioned and I really like.
You still gotta give it up to Elton for his ability to take Taupin's lyrics and put them to music. A lot of people don't realize that they don't actually sit down together and write songs. Taupin writes the lyrics, then John sets them to music. Being a musician (and I assume writing songs with your band), you know that is just not the "normal" way songs get written, and how incredibly crazy it would be for somebody to hand you lyrics and say, "write the music for this". Elton John is phenomenal.
They're both quite talented, but Billy Joel gets my vote for his songwriting and superior piano skills.
I went with Elton. Both have some cheezy material. I think Elton has the bigger catalog. Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Empty Gardens, Levon, Bennie and the Jets far outweigh his bad stuff... I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues, This Train Don't Stop There Anymore Joels songs like Honesty, Piano Man, and Only The Good Die Young are great songs. But when he's bad, IMO he's worse then Elton's bad stuff. His horrible An Innocent Man album alone swayed me to select Elton.
I never said Elton wasn't phenominal, but anyone who writes music can write to written lyrics. In fact, alot of times it's better to have the lyrics first. That way you know what the song is about, and the music can fit the overall mood and tone of the lyrics. Believe it or not, in most cases it's EASIER, because the composer reads the lyrics and melody lines come out. I'm the lyricist in my band, and we do it both ways. I'll either write to what my guitarist or keyboardist gives me musically, or I'll get a brainstorm and come up with some lyrics that they'll compose some music for. It's more "normal" than you think. Don't get me wrong, I love Elton and have most of his CDs on my iPod, but for sheer songwriting he doesn't compare to Billy's ability to put himself into the shoes of someone he's never met and tell their life story in a lyric, as well as write the music to match. Or his ability to paint a vivid picture of what he's singing about. Elton just doesn't do that with his music. "Downeaster Alexa" and "Allentown" are prime examples, as is the song I mentioned before, "Goodnight Saigon". Listen to "New York State of Mind", and if you're a New Yorker, he nails it. And "Miami 2017" is just amazing. The only song by Elton that comes near matching the power and intensity of that is "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding". They're both amazing, and seeing them both together is not to be missed. But all in all, Billy's music is deeper than Elton's. Elton is more pop oriented.
I guess I thought that most lyrics were written with the melody already in mind, then the rest of the music written around that.
Love Billy Joel. Just listened to "Goodnight Saigon" again, he is a freaking genius and though Elton is good too, Billy wins hands down. I know I'm late on this thread but listening to "Goodnight Saigon" really put it over the top for me. Honestly, I know most of Billy's stuff, both hits and unknowns and I only really listened to this song for the first time recently and it blew my mind. Just incredible.
Billy Joel writes both his own music and lyrics. Elton John without Bernie Taupin was mediocre at best.
Up until the early 80s, this would have been close (Elton's Kiki Dee/Billy Jean King era notwithstanding). Both had phenomenal range through the 70s. We forget now, but Elton also had some awesome dark and soulful music then; Madman Across the Water is every bit a match for Goodnight Saigon. But Elton faded badly and was essentially writing elevator music by the 90s. Billy still had some good work left in him; the "River of Dreams" album was quality. What clinches it is the Princess Di Candle in the Wind remake. That song was, while a touching attempt to pay tribute (oh, and to make a ****pile of money, too), an absolute catastrophe. He took his best song, a song with a powerful, poignant message (Hollywood's corruption of a beautiful young woman) and turned it into a song so full of sap that listeners had to blow their nose with a pancake. Billy Joel would never, ever pull something like that with Piano Man.