Billy Joel Catalog To Be Reissued, New "Hits" Compilation

Those were two of the biggest mistakes he made during that era, in my opinion. The Mick Jones production caused Storm Front to sound very dated within just a few years of its release.

I have a Storm Front show (the Yankee Stadium Disney Channel special) and a River of Dreams show (from the box set) on DVD, and both shows are just lifeless and stale. I don't know if they're just "of their times," or if it has to do with the fact that the band is almost completely different, but I suspect the latter. I'd take the Live From Long Island show any day over these two.

 

The one thing I'd love, love, love, love, love, love more than anything is an extended sax solo on "Just the Way You Are." It seems that it was pieced together from different takes, but I'd love for them to do something similar to what they did to "Zanzibar" on "My Lives" (which, by the way, did not include the entire solo from the original album version.)

Though if Billy feels the way he does about the song, this may be a pipe dream at best.

 

The Stern crew were speaking about the appearance this week. Howard is very excited, he's been writing down questions and preparing more than usual. It's going to be killer, I can't wait.

 

Agree 100% on all points. Nylon Curtain is my favorite as well. Maybe it's because I've always considered the album to be "Billy Joel Salutes The Beatles." There's some great songwriting on all the later albums, but the production kills them.

 

Except for the grainy filming style, I actually like the Yankee Stadium concert.

Great versions of "New York State Of Mind" and "Miami 2017".

And, speaking of "Miami 2017"....

I've always hated the "air raid / emergency vehicle siren" intro. Anyone else feel the same?

 

That might of been what roped me in too. My older sister had all of his albums but TNC, Glass Houses & Songs In The Attic are the albums that really grabbed me.

 

I heard they were moving a baby grand piano into the studio for him. He was on the phone with Howard a few weeks back for about an hour. Very interesting interview. I think they have been pretty good friends for a while.

 

Howard said he's going to mention a song, have him play it, then have Billy tell him how/why he wrote it. With a very light commercial load as opposed to terrestrial radio, it should be a great show. I'm sure they'll go over an hour continuous for each segment.

 

That was Billy's decision to not call Doug Stegmeyer and Russell Javors back. he'd had enough after their complaining about tripl escale during the 1987 Russia tour...there's a glimpse of it in the "Matter Of Trust" documentary. It's a shame. I think he was on a roll with all of his frustration at the time, stemming from the lawsuit with his manager.

Billy's best band ended in mid-1981 when Richie Cannata left. But the band he had for the 1982 tour was damned good too. After that, Billy loses me...too many extra musicians onstage.

 

Liberty DeVito is an amazing drummer.

 

Billy said he quit smoking in his last interview with Stern. He might have more of a vocal range now than he had a few years back.

 

Yes, Billy's muse got weaker after the stellar "The Nylon Curtain," but I still like every Billy Joel album with one exception: "Stormfront." I can't find anything to like about that album.

 

Agreed

 

And So It Goes is one of my favorite BJ songs.

 

You're absolutely right. I thought there was one song I remembered liking, and that was it. For me the ONLY good song on the whole album. And it was actually a song from years prior (which makes sense).

 

How can The Hits not include "Uptown Girl"?!

 

In an earlier post, I theorized that every studio album had to be represented and no more than two tracks could go from any album. If that's in the ballpark, then maybe the real question is why pick those Innocent Man tracks instead of "Uptown Girl". Because I think it would be much harder to answer, Why does Innocent Man gets more tracks than Glass Houses, The Stranger, etc.

From the looks of the tracklist and similar tempos, the question probably came down to "Uptown Girl" vs. "Tell Her About It." Vidiot posted a list of Joel's hits earlier, and it looks like a tough call, but maybe they went with the #1 single.

 

Yes he is! I wish they could bury the hatchet, but I don't believe that'll ever happen.

I agree Storm Front is his weakest (though The Bridge is not that far behind). But my favorite track is "Storm Front". I think it's a killer groove.

 

Interesting reading...

"A quick rebuttal to column criticizing new Billy Joel anthology"

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/music/index.ssf/2010/11/a_quick_rebuttal_to_column_cri.html

 

Oddly, I've found it to be just the reverse. There are several great songs on "Storm Front", with "Downeaster Alexa" and "Leningrad" being at the fore for me. "The Bridge" just never gripped me for some reason.

 

VERY interesting reading indeed. I hadn't heard that bit about Sean Lennon before.

Perhaps this is stating the obvious, but the new series of remasters were likely NOT run by Joel before their release, yes?

 

Nice to hear the real thing, instead of speculation.

 

Interesting reading, indeed, but something is rotten in the State of Denmark. Sean Lennon was 14 when "We Didn't Start The Fire" was released, not 21!

 

Give "The Bridge" another listen to. Start with the deep cuts instead of the ones that became more popular. Try it this way...

Running On Ice
Getting Closer
Code Of Silence
Temptation
This Is The Time
Baby Grand
Modern Woman
A Matter Of Trust
Big Man On Mulberry Street (I usually skip this one altogether, since it's my least favorite track.)

This is an album to listen to when your in a mellow mood.

I love his duet with Cindy Lauper on "Code Of Silence".

 

How can anyone not like "Baby Grand" with Ray Charles, especially if you see the video. Classic tune, IMHO.