3 Minutes, 49 Seconds

I got Storm Front on cassette for Christmas 1989, which was odd for a couple of reasons. For one, it was exceedingly rare for me to get music as a gift. Yes, I'd been a known Billy Joel fan since 1983's An Innocent Man , but nobody bought me The Bridge  (1986) or the live Kontsert (1987)   album, so why this one? Did I ask for it? Did someone just make a wild guess? I don't remember. And what did 12-year-old me make of songs about the economic plight of fishermen ("The Downeaster 'Alexa'"), manic depression ("I Go To Extremes"), Russian clowns and the ultimate futility of the Cold War ("Leningrad") and doomed relationships ("And So It Goes")? I didn't really pay attention to the lyrics, honestly. Mostly I connected to melodies and instrumental elements that caught my ear.    As an adult I'm struck by how uniformly strong Storm Front is. It's a vital piece of work, depicting its creator's life and concerns in v...

River of Dreams  is Billy Joel's 12th and (up to now) final album. It's an album possessed of anger, cynicism, and resignation. These emotions and themes were nothing new for Joel, but not since 1982's  The Nylon Curtain  had he released such a downer collection. In fact, the three songs that got radio play (the title track,  All About Soul , and  Lullabye ) are the only fully positive songs on the record.  The album is a slow starter. Opening song  No Man's Land  is a guitar heavy condemnation of modern society. Billy had written eloquently about societal ills before (such as the plights of working men and women on  " Allentown"  and  The  Downeaster  "Alexa" ), but here ham- fistedly  takes lower-rung topics like mega-malls, tabloids, and television.  Great Wall of China  is similarly bitter, and at first blush appears to be a pretty good break-up tune. However, further analysis points to the song being ab...