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Billy Joel's last studio rock/pop album, River of Dreams, was released on August 10, 1993. During the four years from his prior album, Storm Front, Billy had gone through many turbulent changes in his life including the betrayal by his longtime manager Frank Weber and subsequent litigation, more changes to his band personnel, and the eventual demise of his marriage to Christie Brinkley (they announced their separation in April 1994, though were together prior to the release of the album). He was also approaching middle age, turning 44 a few months before River of Dreams was released. It was a time to reflect on recent events and on life in general.
Thematically and lyrically, River of Dreams is one of Billy's most mature and engaging albums. Billy was grappling with many things in his life and the greater issues and questions about life, and these struggles informed his art. Songs like "The Great Wall of China," "A Minor Variation," "Shades of Grey" and "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel") were intensely personal songs, based on events and issues in Billy's life. At the same time, the album overall had a heavy philosophical, even religious, bent to it as Billy explored questions about the meaning and purpose of life ("Two Thousand Years," "The River of Dreams" "Shades of Grey") and ended with a fitting denouement of his life in music, the impressionistic "Famous Last Words." |
The album has on overeaching arc to it, with the songs on Side One representing a man's struggles with life and relationships, it is almost painful and depressing. But Side Two offers a more hopeful message. The five songs on Side Two of River of Dreams flow together thematically as sort of reflection on various stages of one's life. "All About Soul" is about love and finding an honest relationship. This leads to "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" about teaching a child about life and death, which flows into "The River of Dreams" in which Billy explores spirituality and the meaning of one's own life. "Two Thousand Years" looks at life from a broader and grander level, from the perspective of world history and asks "what kind of life will [our children] live" in the future. And in "Famous Last Words," Billy closes the book on this stage of his life and career ("But now it's time to put this book away
And that's the story of my life"). This gives the album a feeling of unity, depth, and completeness Musically, however, a few of the songs on Side One seem to chug along haltingly ("The Great Wall of China," "A Minor Variation," and "Shades of Grey"), while songs on both sides of the album could have used a lighter touch ("Famous Last Words," The River of Dreams") in my unprofessional opinion. But one gets a better appreciation for the album and the process of creating it, the artistic choices made and rejected, in the well-done PBS documentary "Shades of Grey." A good article about the album's development is here. The album was quite successful, debuting at #1 on the charts and garnering several Grammy nominations. Kara Manning summed up the album well in her review in Rolling Stone: "Throughout his career, Billy Joel has worried the stages of growing up — through women, children, fame, betrayal, money gained and lost, loneliness, moments of happiness. But as with any gifted artist, whether he finds that elusive inner peace isn't the point — it's the hellish searching for it that is ultimately so compelling." It is the journey not the destination that is important. We're all carried along, after all, by the river of dreams. And these are the last words I have to say Versions of most of the songs, before Danny Kortchmar producted the final version of the album, are on a bootleg called the "Shelter Island Sessions" (see YouTube playlist). You can read fans debate the merits of these earlier versions versus the final Kortchmar-produced version of the album at this forum.
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Billy's concert in Frankfurt, Germany on the River of Dreams tour was broadcast on the Disney Channel in 1994 and later released as a DVD "Live from the River of Dreams" along with the My Lives collection 2005. You can also see it at this playlist.
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Covers for "The Great Wall of China," "Blonde Over Blue," "A Minor Variation," "Two Thousand Years," and "Famous Last Words" are fictional. Painting in "Blonde Over Blue" is Untitled#17, Mark Rothko.
Songlist
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1. No Man's Land (4:48)
2. The Great Wall of China (5:45) 3. Blonde Over Blue (4:55) 4. A Minor Variation (5:36) 5. Shades of Grey (4:10) 6. All About Soul (5:59) 7. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (3:32) 8. The River of Dreams (4:05) 9. Two Thousand Years (5:19) 10. Famous Last Words (5:01) Vertical Divider
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Lyrics
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Full Album (and more) - River of Dreams
1. No Man's Land (4:48)
2. The Great Wall of China (5:45) 3. Blonde Over Blue (4:55) 4. A Minor Variation (5:36) 5. Shades of Grey (4:10) |
6. All About Soul (5:59)
7. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (3:32) 8. The River of Dreams (4:05) 9. Two Thousand Years (5:19) 10. Famous Last Words (5:01) |
Interviews & Features - River of Dreams
Shades of Grey. Shades of Grey is a PBS documentary on the making of the River of Dreams album from 1993. It was produced by WNET. The full video is here, followed by clips from the document, along with a couple extra videos.
Because of how the clips were uploaded on the official Billy Joel YouTube page, some of the documentary is clipped off before or after the live versions of songs. |
Click on three-line icon for playlist.
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River of Dreams documentary. Billy discusses the "River of Dreams" album in this mini-documentary which begins with the music video for the title track and includes footage from different interviews. Much of this is taken from the documentary Shades of Grey (above).
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Various Interviews. This is a playlist of various television interviews with Billy Joel from 1993-1995. There is also a good hour-long interview with Charlie Rose (ugh).
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Click on three-line icon for playlist.
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Master Class - Nuremberg (1995). This is a playlist of the Master Class that Billy did in Nuremberg, Germany in 1995. His father, Helmut Joel, and his brother, Alexander, join him on stage in some clips. For more Master Classes, go to the One Final Serenade YouTube channel.
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Click on three-line icon for playlist.
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Live Performances - River of Dreams
Live from The River of Dreams Concert (Frankfurt, Germany) (1994). Playlist of videos from Billy's concert in Frankfurt, Germany. This was originally aired on the Disney Channel in 1994, and then released as a DVD many years later in the My Lives boxed set in 2005.
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Click on three-line icon for playlist.
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Various Appearances. Video and audio of live performances from 1993 to 1996.
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Click on three-line icon for playlist.
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Reviews
AllMusic Rolling Stone Salon (a look back from 2018) Ultimate Classic Rock Articles "Q&A with Billy Joel," Dennis Hunt, LA Times (Dec. 11, 1993) "Sailing On A River of Dreams," Jonathan Takiff, Phil. Daily News (Aug. 10, 1993) |
"Though River of Dreams doesn't conclude with any grand breakthrough or spiritual revelation — the last song, ''Famous Last Words,'' is only a temporary, restless farewell — Joel's jittery collection traces impressions of his journey of self-discovery. Throughout his career, Billy Joel has worried the stages of growing up — through women, children, fame, betrayal, money gained and lost, loneliness, moments of happiness. But as with any gifted artist, whether he finds that elusive inner peace isn't the point — it's the hellish searching for it that is ultimately so compelling." |
Track List
Click links to go to song page. 1. No Man's Land (4:48) 2. The Great Wall of China (5:45) 3. Blonde Over Blue (4:55) 4. A Minor Variation (5:36) 5. Shades of Grey (4:10) 6. All About Soul (5:59) 7. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (3:32) 8. The River of Dreams (4:05) 9. Two Thousand Years (5:19) 10. Famous Last Words (5:01) Background Information Released: August 10, 1993 Recorded: 1992 The Boathouse at the Island Boatyard, Shelter Island, NY; Cove City Sound Studios, Glen Cove, NY; The Hit Factory, New York City, New York Genre: Rock/Pop Length: 49:10 Label: Columbia Producer: Danny Kortchmar, Billy Joel, Joe Nicolo, David Thoener Words and Music by Billy Joel Billy and River of Dreams film crew. From BillyJoel.com. Photo: Jeff Schock.
Shades of Grey VHS cover
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Personnel
Billy Joel: lead vocals, clavinet (1, 4), Hammond organ (1, 4, 6, 8, 10), background vocals (2), piano (2, 6-10), organ (2, 9), synthesizer (3, 8), keyboards (5) Tommy Byrnes: guitar (1, 3, 5, 6) Danny Kortchmar: guitar (1-4, 6, 8-10) Leslie West: guitar (1, 2, 4) Mike Tyler: guitar (8) Richie Cannata: tenor sax (4) Laurence Etkin: trumpet (4) Arno Hecht: baritone sax (4) Osvaldo Melindez: trombone (4) Zachary Alford: drums (1-4, 6, 8) Liberty DeVitto: drums (5) Steve Jordan: drums (9, 10) Andy Kravitz: percussion (8) Jim Saporito: percussion (2) Schuyler Deale: bass (5) Lonnie Hillyer: bass (3, 8) Chuck Treece: bass (8) T.M. Stevens: bass (1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10) Jeff Lee Johnson: bass (8) Crystal Taliefero: vocal arrangement (6, 8), background vocals (6, 8) Jeff Jacobs: synthesizer (2), additional programming (8) Ira Newborn: orchestration (2, 6-8) Lewis Del Gatto: orchestra manager (2, 6-8) Color Me Badd: backing vocals on "All About Soul" Curtis Rance King, Jr.: choir conductor and contractor (6) Choir Vocals (6): Phillip Ballou, Katreese Barnes, Dennis Collins, Will Downing, Frank Floyd, Diane Garisto, Stephanie James, Devora Johnson, Marlon Saunders, Corliss Stafford, Brenda White-King Background Vocals: Marlon Saunders (6, 8); Frank Simms (1, 2, 8); George Simms (1, 2, 8); B. David Witworth (6, 8), Wrecia Ford (6, 8); Crystal Taliefero (6, 8) |
Production
A&R – Don DeVito Art and Commerce – Jeff Schock Art Direction – Christopher Austopchuk Cover Art by Christie Brinkley Design – Sara Rotman Engineers – Carl Glanville (1-7, 9, 10), Joe Nicolo and Phil Nicolo (8), Dick Grobelny (assistant, 8). Engineer [Assistant, Cove City Sound Studios] – Dan Hetzel Engineer [Assistant, The Hit Factory] – Brian Vibberts Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NYC Mixed by Niko Bolas (1-4, 6, 7, 9, 10), David Thoener (5), Joe Nicolo and Phil Nicolo (8). Photography – Glen Erler Producers – Danny Kortchmar (1-4, 6-10), Billy Joel (5), David Thoener (associate producer, 5), Joe Nicolo (co-producer, 8). Production Coordinator – Bill Zampino Recorded by [The Boathouse] – Bob Thrasher, Bradshaw Leigh, Dave Wilkerson, Jay Healy. Technical Support – Andrew Baker*, Artie Smith, Courtney Spencer, Dave Hofbauer, David Hewitt, Doug Kleeger, Greg Garland, Howie Mendelson, Jon "J.D." Dworkow*, Larry DeMarco, Laura Delia, Lester Baylinson, Peter Goodrich, Steve Bramberg. Color Me Badd (1993)
A Voyage on the River of Dreams was a 3-CD Australian boxed set that included the album, a CD of live songs from the tour, and an interview disc.
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