“Those guys are nasty”: how classical critics forced Billy Joel to stop releasing music
Billy Joel has always been a phenomenal songwriter who is capable of elevating a simple song with the most ingenious yet minute details. Having begun his career way back in the mid-1960s, his rise to prominence throughout the 1970s and ‘80s saw him become one of the best-selling solo artists in recording history, and his songwriting chops were a primary reason for this incredible achievement.
With classic albums such as Piano Man, The Stranger and 52nd Street to his name alongside many standout hits, Joel’s importance to pop-rock cannot be understated. However, as frequent as his highs might have been, as many artists do, he had a number of low points in his career that would be best brushed under the carpet rather than examined closely.
Any level of critical panning would make an artist want to shy away from releasing anything below your usual high standard, and therefore, if you’re afraid of what the hard-to-please music press might think of your latest efforts, you might feel reluctant to ever show it to the world. It’s one thing to put in months or perhaps years of toil to complete an album only to have that painstaking process shattered to pieces by a scathing review, but from the artist’s perspective, maintaining a blemish-free track record is perhaps more enticing than having a bunch of flops sitting among your masterworks.
Much later in his career, Joel would delve into the world of classical composition, and in 2001 released the album Fantasies & Delusions, which featured 12 works written and arranged by Joel and performed by the Korean-British concert pianist Hyung-ki Joo. This bold and adventurous pursuit may have seemed like a worthwhile project to work on from Joel’s perspective, but to this day, it remains the final album of original material that the pianist ever released. One of the main reasons for this being his final outing was the cold reception that it garnered from critics, especially those from the classical music world.
In a 2018 interview with Vulture, Joel declared that he’s always had a bit of contempt for music critics and that that ultimately has always been a mutual feeling. “Over my career, I’ve been savaged pretty good,” he told the publication. However, while rock and pop press was unnecessarily savage towards Joel’s music, none of the disparaging comments he received from them for his earlier material had prepared him for the career assassination he would receive in reviews for Fantasies & Delusions.
“The classical critics take you apart with a scalpel,” Joel continued, referencing the surgical precision of the cutting remarks he was on the receiving end of for his final album. “It’s a very refined ripping of the skin and bleeding of the arteries. Those guys are nasty.” While he claimed to be “over that”, the fact that he has declined to continue releasing music since this was more of a decision to protect himself from being on the receiving end of the same level of criticism again for something he was so proud of.
“The critics didn’t scare me off from releasing new material,” he concluded. “I just don’t feel compelled to share what I’m doing with the world. It’s for me.” While the world would undoubtedly feel a sense of joy in hearing new music from Joel, it’s ultimately a choice he has made for his own mental well-being, and if he’s content writing for himself, then let him be.
