News ·  Ron Rosenbaum on why Billy Joel blows  Ron Rosenbaum on
why Billy Joel blows  Ron Rosenbaum really, really hates Billy
Joel. The acclaimed essayist/author, a frequent contributor to
The New Yorker and The Observer, among others, spends an entire
Slate column railing against the egregiousness of Joel's work.
While Rosenbaum's attack is aesthetic in nature, he has a
personal stake in the subject too; he states that as a native
Long Islander he has long resented the fact that Billy Joel is
his home's musical ambassador to the universe, so he finally
went so far as purchasing a Billy Joel box set for the purposes
of analyzing its perceived awfulness in detail.   Be warned, if
you harbor the slightest soft spot for the ol' Piano Man,
Rosenbaum's assault will get your goat. A few sample
descriptions, just for flavor: "...a plague upon the airwaves
more contagious than West Nile virus...," "...loathsomely
insipid simulacrum of rock...," "...contemptible crap..." did we
mention that he really, really hates Jo