Storm Front＜Red Vinyl＞

STORM FRONT is easily the best of Billy Joel's later albums. Upon reaching the early stages of middle age, Joel became more than just a pop song writer. By focusing his entire life's experiences into his compositions, Joel could write with much greater depth and impact than a decade previous. Of course, this is most evident in the hit "We Didn't Start The Fire," a sort of musical history lesson that encompasses all the major events from the fifties up until this afternoon. But there is much more experience in this record that Joel approaches from several points of view. The unique "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" is a poignant tale of the plight of Joel's Long Island home fishing industry. His well publicized tour of the U.S.S.R. produced the magnificent "Leningrad," a touching comparison between himself and a Russian citizen. The piano man hasn't become too reflective to rock, though, as is evident on the big opener "That's Not Her Style," "I Go To Extremes" and the very funky title track.