27. Billy Joel--River of Dreams
#27: Billy Joel--River of Dreams (1993)
Top-Notch Tracks: "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)," (HJ200 #26), "River of Dreams," "Blonde Over Blue," "No Man's Land," "Shades of Grey," "Great Wall of China."
Album Depth: "All About Soul," "Two Thousand Years."
Weak Links: "Famous Last Words," "A Minor Variation."
Stand-Out Lyrics: "I think I know what you've been asking me. I think you know what I've been trying to say."--"Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"
"In the middle of the night, I go walking in my sleep from the mountains of faith to the river so deep."--"River of Dreams"
"In hell there's a big hotel where the bar just closed and the windows never open. No phone, so you can't call home, and the tv works, but the clicker is broken."--"Blonde Over Blue"
"Give us this day our daily discount outlet merchandise. Raise up a multiplex and we will make a sacrifice."--"No Man's Land"
"The more I find out, the less that I know."--"Shades of Grey"
"You take a piece of whatever you touch. Too many pieces means you're touching too much."--"Great Wall of China"
"Is this a curse or blessing that we give?"--"Two Thousand Years"
"I promised I would never leave you, and you should always know: wherever you may go, no matter where you are, I never will be far away."--"Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"
"These days not a damn soul prays, and there is no faith 'cause there's nothing to believe in."--"Blonde Over Blue"
"They roll the sidewalks up at night, this place goes underground. Thanks to the condo kings there's cable now in Zombietown."--"No Man's Land"
"Now with the wisdom of years, I try to reason things out. And the only people I fear are those who never have doubts. Save us all from arrogant men, and all the causes they're for. I won't be righteous again. I'm not that sure anymore."--"Shades of Grey"
"All the king's men, and all the king's horses couldn't put you together the way you used to be."--"Great Wall of China"
"I see these children with their boredom and their vacant stares. God help us all if we're to blame for their unanswered prayers."--"No Man's Land"
"Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullabye, then in your heart there will always be a part of me."--"Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"
Album Cover: 9 out of 10. Am I influenced by the fact that the album cover was drawn by Christie Brinkley? Yes, I probably am. But that doesn't change the fact that it's an album cover with some depth to it, with all of its little vignettes about the songs contained in the album. About the only thing that keeps this from being a "10" for me is that the top of Billy's head is missing, so that it looks like his brains are splattered in the river.
Comments: Okay, so in the past I've said a few derogatory things about Billy Joel and the fact that he hasn't put out any (much) new material since dropping this album back in 1993. I'm going to take this opportunity to apologize for that. Where the hell do I get off yelling at someone for not making more music for me to enjoy? Especially when this someone has provided hundreds of high quality songs for me to sing along with and enjoy over a span of well over twenty years! Billy Joel is not some song monkey who creates new songs because I put a couple of quarters in the juke box. I would love it if he wrote and recorded more songs, but if he decides not to, I totally respect that decision.
That said, when he wrote his final album of pop music, he was definitely still at the top of his game. This album has six of the finest, well-written songs you'll ever want to hear. Good tunes, clever, insightful lyrics, and excellent musicianship.
It also contains four other songs. These songs are...okay. I've always kind of held some resentment toward "Famous Last Words" for being the last song on his final album. And, much like Jeff Lynne, I think Billy struggles when he tries to get a little too bluesy on "A Minor Variation." (See also "Train of Gold" from "Secret Messages.")
Even though I moved to Utah a year earlier, I still have a distinct memory of hearing the song "River of Dreams" for the first time while coming through the intersection of Yellowstone and Oak in Pocatello. My initial impression was, "Hmmm...this is a bit different." It took a while, but the song definitely grew on me.
"Lullabye," on the other hand, blew me away from the moment I heard it. It's such a simple, wonderful song. I've sung it (and played it) for my children many times.
"No Man's Land," "Blonde Over Blue," "Shades of Grey," and "Great Wall of China" are all songs worthy of landing on any of Billy's previous albums. (Although I'm not certain I agree with the sentiment of "No Man's Land." What, only big cities are worthy of sports franchises?)
The bottom line is, I'm grateful that Billy Joel kept writing songs long enough to produce this album--it's great! And while I'd love it if he wrote more songs, Billy Joel certainly doesn't owe me anything.
Up next: The shapes of things to come.
I absolutely love this album. The songs are intimately tied to sweet memories of the early days of my marriage and raising Erik. But I'll resist listing them all here, as I may want to write about this album later.
ReplyDeleteI think you forgot that Billy did put out another album after this--of classical music. And he's written a few songs since River of Dreams, and released new performances of songs written by others, and released old songs that he recorded that weren't on any previous albums. In all, there's enough new stuff to make up an album's worth. It's just that it would make for a pretty disjointed album.
I understand the reasons why Billy doesn't want to get back into writing popular music. The musical landscape has changed so much, here's a pretty good chance that anything he would put out now would flop commercially, and I just don't think he wants that kind of black mark on his reputation. And like you, I'm grateful for the music that's he's given us. But I can't help but think in the back of my mind that he really didn't write his famous last words on River of Dreams. I think he's got more to say. Besides, he's been doing those monthly concerts in New York for how many years now? So he's still willing to go out there and perform to make music, so I really don't think he's all out of musical ideas that are worth sharing. There's more water left in that well.
Nardo