Let's be honest. None of them can sing rock 'n' roll. They'd seriously be better off trying to sing "Teenage Dream" than "Paint It Black".

Yeah, but it's also boring and absolutely nothing special.

"Twist and Shout", "She Said She Said", "Revolution", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "Dig a Pony", "Don't Let Me Down", even "Eight Days a Week" and "Ticket to Ride", for example, not to mention solo work like "Mother". McCartney can belt them out too, don't get me wrong ("Oh! Darling") but Lennon has a raw power and quality that he could never match.

I actully think Lennon would have done a fantastic version of "Paint It Black".

Dude, you want to review all of Billy Joel's discography. Your rock cred is suspect.

None of these have the "raw power" that the McCartney songs I just mentioned do. "Twist and Shout" is possibly the exception, but even that's more lightweight.

I actually only said that as a joke, but then Unknown Soldier said he'd follow it, and he's the godfather of all things rock around these parts. Machine expressed an interest as well. You gotta give it to the people like the people want it.

Oh, and he's definitely not rock, for the most part.

I'll concede that McCartney has more technical power, but Lennon has more raw, visceral emotional power. Like on the chorus of "Don't Let Me Down".

The lyrics are good and I didn't write them. You see? When I say that he could write lyrics if he took the effort, here's an example.

- John Lennon

Ah, Revolver. The Beatles' 1966 psychedelic masterpiece. Possibly my favourite album of all time. It manages to be both a unified whole and fabulous collection of individual tracks.

With the exception of "Yellow Submarine". Don't even get me started.

Anyway, this is the first entry from the aforementioned Revolver. You can expect to see a few more.

It's about drugs.

I was alone, I took a ride
I didn't know what I would find there
Another road, where maybe I
Could see another kind of mind there
Ooh, then I suddenly see you
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life

Before McCartney decided to use a brass section, those little licks were performed by a fuzz guitar and organ. If you listen carefully, you can hear them under the horns.

The Beatles' version is absolutely fantastic. However, it's also absolutely… white. As in, Goofle level. ;) Earth, Wind and Fire recorded a much more soulful cover, which I feel brought out the song's full potential as a Motown classic. In fact, here are both versions. You decide which is better.

Few musicians are as critically maligned as Billy Joel. In fact, it seems that Music Banter can be divided into two groups: those who like Billy Joel, and those who dislike Billy Joel. As one firmly planted in the first group, my objective is to show those in the second that if you look beyond the overplayed hits--"Just the Way You Are", "Uptown Girl", and "We Didn't Start the Fire", to name a few--he's an artist worthy of his commercial success.

The albums won't be posted in strict chronological order. Rather, I'll be reviewing them in the order a radio listener would have heard them back in the day, beginning with 1977's The Stranger.

Whether you're a fan or not, I hope you will find something to enjoy in the coming weeks.

I am interested in anything having to do with Billy Joel. There's too few of us on this site.

Don't you like Springsteen too? Maybe we're related somehow.