Comments for Joel, Billy, Storm Front

This is Billy Joel's comeback from a mid-80's slump. Storm Front contains "We Didn't Start The Fire," "I Go To Extremes," "And Do It Goes," and "Shameless." His best material since the Nylon Curtain.

A big disappointment. Sure, We Didn't Start The Fire is a great song but rest are unmemorable. His next album, River of Dreams is 10 times better.

Another snooze for me. "We Didn''t Start The Fire" is just sheer annoyance anymore (maybe it always was). "I Go To Extremes" typifies VH-1 rock, which is exactly where it''s video landed in heavy rotation. I like "That''s Not Her Style", but it reminds of the Stones for some reason (not that that''s bad), and my fave is "And So It Goes", which was a song written in 1983. Never gets played in my stereo anymore.

I`m not real keen on this one. "Leningrad" and "And So It Goes" are very nice, "Storm Front" and "The Downeaster `Alexa`" are good sea-songs (jazzy and moody, respectively). "We Didn`t Start The Fire" is catchy, if overplayed. Throw the rest out. _Storm_Front_ was recorded at The Hit Factory Times Square Studio, Right Track Recording, The Warehouse Studio, and The Power Station, with Liberty DeVitto on drums, David Brown on guitars, Schuyler Deale on bass, and Jeff Jacobs on synthesizers and vocals, plus Don Brooks on harmonica, Joey Hunting on guitar, Mick Jones on guitar and vocals, John Mahoney on keyboards, Crystal Taliefero on percussion and vocals, Sammy Merendino on percussion, Dominic Cortese on accordian, Itzhak Perlman as World Famous Incognito Violinist, Lenny Picket on saxophone, The Memphis Horns, and Richard Marx, Patti Darcy, Frank Floyd, Brian Ruggles, Joe Lynn Turner, Ian Lloyd, Chuck Arnold, members of the Hicksvill High School Chorus, Brenda White King, and Curtis King on vocals.