Billy Joel: Taylor Swift is this generation's Beatles
 

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Billy Joel says Taylor Swift is “this generation’s Beatles”.

The ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ legend compared the country-turned-pop
singer to iconic ‘Hey Jude’ band as he weighed in on both the ‘Shake If Off’
star and ‘Easy On Me’ hitmaker. Adele.

Asked for his opinion on current artists, he told USA Today: “Adele is a
phenomenal singer, kind of a [Barbra] Streisand throwback.


“Taylor [Swift] is also a very talented girl and she’s productive and keeps
coming up with great concepts and songs and she’s huge. You have to give
her high marks. She knows music and she knows how to write. She’s like
that generation’s Beatles.”:joker:

https://www.fox41yakima.com/billy-jo...tions-beatles/

If that is so then this generation are getting a very raw deal

it's more like she is this generations Billy Joel

I have to wholeheartedly agree.

Both are wildly over-rated musically due to viral popularity.

Don't get me wrong it's not that you can't listen to them... They both make catchy easy-listening, one or two standout tracks, but mostly nothing to write home about.

So yeah, she probably is.

yeah and doja cat is this generations Deep Purple

The Beatles wrote great songs and changed the face of popular music.

Taylor Swift writes great songs.

Maybe he's just highlighting the terrible state of this generation music talent?

Maybe he's saying "we had The Beatles and the best you can offer is Taylor bleedin' Swift?"

On the basis, he has a point.

Her songs are great. Trash like Megan Trainor and the other one deserve smack talk like that, but not Swift.

The Beatles were as popular as they were because they were trailblazers in doing something a bit “different” to the other music that was available at the time, and because access to music relied entirely upon radio play on a small number of radio stations or purchasing physical media.

The musical landscape is entirely different now with countless recording artists from countless musical genres pushing musical boundaries and experimenting, usually with solid but fairly niche followings, some with larger followings, but you’re not going to get something like The Beatles simply because of the easy, free and immediate access to any variety of music you can think of. It’s not reliant on media exposure or radio play in the same way.

I’m not saying The Beatles didn’t write some good music. I am however saying that The Beatles today would not be the cultural phenomenon they were in their day. Their following would smaller and more focussed.

You have to put everything in historical context really and you can’t compare a band from the middle of the 20th century to any recording artist in 2022 - in the world of digital streaming and almost infinite variety.

But they were a cultural phenomenon at their time of composing music. I wouldn't call anyone today a cultural phenomenon. Adele is a good caberet singer and Ed Sheeran is a decent busker. Nobody out there now is producing anything groundbreaking or seminal.

Pretty much all ground has been broken.

Like, rock music evolved from rock'n'roll which evolves from RNB, so it's possible further musical developments could occur. Likewise, jazz is basically an adaptation of classical music.

the beatles produced some real crud in their time. McCartney and Lennon individually produced some real crud over the years. They did however create some timeless musical gems too and I don't see Swift competing against those in any universe

I begining to think Joel was actually having a swipe at the terrible music of today?

The Beatles overrated !?
One or two standout tracks ??
They probably made near enough 200 songs and maybe about 10 of them were mediocre.. the rest were brilliant beyond words

Sounds like you’ve not listened to them very much ... to be honest ..


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That's what I'm saying though - you will never again have one person or group from one musical genre becoming a "cultural phenomenon"... there's simply too much choice freely available at the click of a button. If The Beatles were around today, sure they would have their fans, but most people wouldn't be interested because music tastes vary so widely these days. Back then it was "Are you a Beatles man or an Elvis man?" ... now there's 500 different musical genres for people to be into, never mind individual artists.

Someone like Taylor Swift probably is about as close as you'd get to The Beatles these days. Mainstream appeal, fairly easy listening, catchy songs.

The Beatles only have a couple of tracks that are truly anything special, most of their catalogue is just "decent catchy music" that was only stand-out because it was something different at the time. It would be generic and forgettable if you heard it on a random playlist today. That's the hard to swallow truth for Beatles fans I think :joker:.

Mmmm she does refer to the word ‘deep’ fairly often ... nothing to do with purple though


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You're proving my point more than disproving it to be honest; you're saying this as someone who is clearly a Beatles fan. Taylor Swift fans would say exactly the same thing about her music. One Direction fans will gush all day long about their music. etc. etc. etc.

The Beatles, in their day, were something fresh and new at a time where it wasn't really possible to listen to and discover all sorts of different music all the time. You listened to what was on the radio or what your pals introduced you to. I know I wasn't even alive at the time but this was true well into the early 2000's (The Internet didn't even really change it - the big change came with Broadband and streaming)

I’m guessing you weren’t born in the 50’s or 60’s and quite possibly you’ve just heard a few of their popular songs like Hey Jude that wouldn’t get in my top 60 favourite Beatles songs for many people


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I'm a music fan Zizu - I've heard every Beatles song (album track, anyway) at least once and their best tracks countless times. As I said, I'm not saying they aren't good music and I can also fully appreciate the influence they had on other bands and the direction of music in general going forward - many of my favourite bands and, indeed, many of my favourite genres would include The Beatles in their "family tree" so to speak.

However no I wasn't born in the 50's or 60's and that's sort of the point; people who were fans of The Beatles in their day are never going to have an objective view of the music in itself, because of the nostalgia and emotion that we all feel for our favourite bands, especially those we listened to through formative years.

I can only reiterate that, in my opinion, there are only a handful of Beatles tracks that shine as timeless, rather than "great for the time" but ultimately underwhelming as standalone pieces of music.

I suppose music is like religion and politics ...

Do you have any particularly favourite bands / singers / music genres ?


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I wouldn't compare Taylor Swift to the Beatles , similar popularity to them maybe though .

Some of Taylor Swift's songs are catchy bops , she'll always have fans.

Billy Joel: Taylor Swift is this generation's Beatles
 

Oddly enough one of very first records was this 4 track EP .. with four fabulously melodic tracks ... that’s two more than you stated and on one single :)

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This 100%

Although Eleanor Rigby is good.

Guess it may just scrape into my top 40 Beatles songs )


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Yes, So much of the Beatles now in 5.1 DTS HD sound


A High Level of Quality
above swift.

The Beatles were only going for less than a decade. Their catalogue of music they produced in that time is astounding. Elton John hasn't even got close in 6 decades.