Storm Front - Billy Joel

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Back cover. The nautical theme is echoed by Billy's Navy Pea Coat.

By 1989, it had been three years since Billy Joel had released The Bridge which despite some solid songs and sales seemed to be Billy just treading water. Still, those intervening three years had been eventful ones for Billy as he had played historic concerts in the Soviet Union, released a 2-disc live album, Kohuept, and raised his young daughter, Alexa, with wife Christie Brinkley.

Billy came back strong with his 11th studio album Storm Front in 1989 which went to number one on the charts and featured three top 40 hits. The album had a harder, bluesier edge than did its predecessor. Billy worked with a new producer, Mick Jones of Foreigner, and had replaced some members of his recording and touring band (Doug Stegmeyer and Russell Javors) with new musicians including the talented multi-instrumentalists Crystal Taliefero and Mindy Jostyn (for a brief period on tour, followed by guitarist Tommy Byrnes), and bassist Schuyler Deale. Drummer Liberty DeVitto, guitarist David Brown, and saxophonist/keyboards player Mark Rivera remained in the band. The changes helped give Billy and his music a fresh perspective and sound.

In some ways, this was a return to the blue-eyed soul and rock that Billy had first started out playing in his 60s bands The Lost Souls (later The Commandos) and The Hassles. Songs like "That's Not Her Style," "When In Rome," "I Go To Extremes" and the title track "Storm Front" were clearly reminiscent of that genre. Billy also continued exploring political and social causes and themes in the touching "Leningrad" and "The Downeaster 'Alexa.'" And he released what may be one of his most tender and heart-breaking songs, "And So It Goes," which was actually written back in 1983.

As Billy described in a Rolling Stone interview in 1989:

"My game plan for Storm Front was simply to make a better record, one that I liked. I was unhappy with the way The Bridge came out. You can hear the seams on that album – it was a bad stitching job. Christie and I'd just had Alexa, and you can hear on that record that I would rather have been at home with the baby than with the band in the studio. That's what the song "Temptation" was about – the temptation was a baby, not another woman. So yes, there's some rocky stuff on Storm Front, but anyone who's been following my career shouldn't be surprised at all. I'm not just this ballad guy – just because "Piano Man" was my first hit, some people still think of me as the piano man. But that was something I did for nine months. Most of my life I played with rock bands.

"Sure, I wrote the songs and had the spotlight on me a lot of the time, but I'm still a guy who plays in rock bands. And naturally, there's some meaty stuff on the album for this band to sink its teeth into like "That's Not Her Style." And yeah, a song like "Shameless" has plenty of barbecue sauce on it, as they say. But that's only natural. I mean, anyone who thinks of us as mellow should have heard us doing Zeppelin, Cream and Hendrix at sound check."

The most popular song off the album, however, was the idiosyncratic
white man's "rap" song, "We Didn't Start The Fire" which reached number one on the charts. The lyrics were simply a string of notable events or figures from the past four decades, and the chorus was rather routine, but it caught the attention of many people, and launched thousands of high-school term papers, projects, and videos. Billy had always been a history buff and has said that if he had not become a musician, he may have become a history teacher.

Storm Front was not a return to Billy's singer-songwriter days as some hoped, so it may have disappointed some older fans, but it won him many new ones. Billy swung for the fences, sometimes he hit a home run ("The Downeaster Alexa") and sometimes he missed. Some of the songs seem overwrought, even bombastic in production such as "We Didn't Start the Fire," and lyrically the songs are not a strong as in previous albums. Still, while there may not be one singularly brilliant song on the album (though "The Downeaster Alexa" and "And So It Goes" come close), the album is a testament to Billy's versatility and enduring musicality. Whether you are a fan of Storm Front or not, you have to respect Billy Joel for always trying something different, never simply repeating the last successful album.

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on...

– From "We Didn't Start The Fire"

A collection of several music videos from Storm Front were released together on video as Eye of The Storm, including a live version of "The Downeaster Alexa" with jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty that is not available on other videos/DVDs. Billy's concert at Yankee Stadium in 1990 was also released on video and DVD as Billy Joel: Live from Yankee Stadium.

Billy made the cover of the Rolling Stone for the third time after the release of Storm Front. In "Billy Joel on Fire, Again: The Rolling Stone Interview" (quoted above) Billy gives readers insight into his music and life. Journalist David Wild wrote: "Finally it becomes clear that for all his flashes of macho bluster, the former teenage boxer punches back at those who attack him exactly because he does care, because he wants everyone to love him just the way he is."

* * * * *

Billy also appeared on Mick Jones' self-titled album from 1989 on the song "Just Wanna Hold," as well the music video for the song, with Christie Brinkley. Billy and Mick appeared on Late Night with David Letterman in 1989 and performed the song. Billy appears briefly with Paul Schaefer and the rest of the Late Night band throughout the episode including at 4:58, 5:56 and 32:36.

Many years later in 2013, Billy Joel inducted Foreigner's Mick Jones and Lou Gramm into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as true "jukebox heroes." See video here. Billy appears at 0:33.

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Cover of tour book for the Storm Front tour (1990).

Storm Front publicity photo (1990)

Billy's 1990 concert at Yankee Stadium was released on DVD.

"Billy Joel On Fire, Again" (1990)

In 1989, Storm Front producer Mick Jones released his own album with Billy on keyboards for "Just Wanna Hold." Photo from album back cover.

That's Not Her Style

We Didn't Start The Fire

The Downeaster 'Alexa'

Other
Songs:

Covers for "State of Grace," "When In Rome,"and "House of Blue Light" are fictional. "House of Blue Light" art from Deep Purple album cover.

Songlist
(click links to go to song page)

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1.    That's Not Her Style (5:10)
2.   We Didn't Start The Fire (4:50)
3.   The Downeaster Alexa (3:44)
4.   I Go To Extremes (4:23)
5.   Shameless (4:26)
6.   Storm Front (5:17)
7.   Leningrad (4:06)
8.   State of Grace (4:30)
9.   When In Rome (4:44)
10. And So It Goes (3:38)

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Full Album (and more) - Storm Front

Click song name to go to song page.
1.    That's Not Her Style (5:10)
2.   We Didn't Start The Fire (4:50)
3.   The Downeaster Alexa (3:44)
4.   I Go To Extremes (4:23)
5.   Shameless (4:26)

6.   Storm Front (5:17)
7.   Leningrad (4:06)
8.   State of Grace (4:30)
9.   When In Rome (4:44)
10. And So It Goes (3:38)

Interview & Features - Storm Front

Misc. Interviews. This is a playlist of videos and audio clips in which Billy discusses the Storm Front album, or are interviews and features from the period (1989-1991) when Storm Front or its singles were on the charts.

The interview on the UK television program, Aspel & Company, is very good, as is the profile of Billy on the ABC television news magazine 20/20 from 1990.