Theory

Every single song on Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Vol. I and II is amazing.

And I know every word and note even though I probably haven't listened to it more than a handful of times in the past fifteen or twenty years.

It's really strange to listen to it actually, because it seeped very deep into my consciousness at a time when I didn't really think about music in a self-conscious way. I just loved the Storm Front album with We Didn't Start the Fire and my friend Ben made me a tape copy of his earlier greatest hits. When I just listened to it now (on a random nostalgia kick after hearing a couple of the songs in a cab the other night), I couldn't help but hear everything in context-- how he moved from Prog Epics (Captain Jack), to New Wave Mimicry (Still Rock and Roll to Me) to shameless nostalgia (Uptown Girl), all while indulging in sensitively wussy singer-songwriter balladry (Just the Way You Are, Always a Woman). But back when I first got into it was just about the myuuusic, man-- I liked the way he spoke-sang "Biiiig shooot, deeeedja" and the awesome synth hook in Pressure and the "BrenderandEddie" section of Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.

To return to my theory: Seriously, every single song is great!