River of Dreams

Billy Joel | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Import
• ASIN: B0000028T0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MiniDisc  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,282 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Songs Include : 1. No Man's Land 2. Great Wall Of China 3. Blonde Over Blue 4. A Minor Variation 5. Shades Of Grey 6. All About Soul 7. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) 8. River Of Dreams 9. Two Thousand Years 10. Famous Last Words

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joel's Most Reflective, Mature Album, August 31, 2003

By 

Alex Diaz-Granados "fardreaming writer" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: River of Dreams (Audio CD)

River of Dreams, Billy Joel's last pop rock album, is 10 years old this year. It seemingly closed one chapter of Joel's creative career and opened another as he turned his attention to other musical genres. And even though listeners may have thought that River of Dreams was his farewell to pop, he has never ruled out future offerings, After all. Joel still tours and his record label still sells copies of his classic albums, compilations and Greatest Hits sets, and recently Movin' Out, a Broadway show written around some of his classics ("Good Night, Saigon," "Movin' Out [Anthony's Song])" has been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.

Even if these are Joel's "Famous Last Words" (that being the title of the last track) in the pop arena, River of Dreams is an eclectic mix of styles and themes. The 10 songs reflect a blend of anger at urban blight ("No Man's Land"), the nature of true love ("All About Soul"), parental love ("Lullabye [Goodnight, My Angel]"), and serious explorations of a spiritual nature ("River of Dreams," "Two Thousand Years").

Although the other songs on this album are also good ones ("Blonde Over Blue," "Shades of Grey," and "The Great Wall of China"), I tend to give more play time to the more sentimental compositions. Of these, my favorite is the titular "River of Dreams," with its catchy hooks and Gospel influences. It's reminiscent of the start of his friend Elton John's "Circle of Life," and its Gospel-choir background vocals and almost Biblical turns of phrase ("I was searching for something/something so undefined/that it can only be seen/by the eyes of the blind/in the middle of the night") make this song memorable and thought provoking.

"Lullabye" actually started out as a Grieg-inspired piece for solo piano but morphed into a lovely song for his daughter Alexa Ray. Its lyrics hint at the turmoil in Joel's personal life at the time (he and Christie Brinkley would be divorced within a year of the album's release) and his devotion to his daughter ("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").

"Two Thousand Years" caught my attention for various reasons. I like the interplay between Joel's keyboards (piano and organ) and drummer Steve Jordan. I love the melody (very reflective music tends to grab me) and the lyrics ("Time is relentless/only true love perseveres"). Very few songs in pop can make me sit up and listen attentively, and "Two Thousand Years" is one of these.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carried Along Indeed, February 18, 2003

By 

Martin P. McCarthy (North Chili, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: River of Dreams (Audio CD)

This album is not perfect. It is especially not perfect when its individual parts are scrutinized.

However, this may be a case where the whole of the album is greater than the sum of its parts.

In many ways, the album is best understood as not having 10 tracks but rather two movements and each movemt has its own discrete meaning.

Tracks 1-5 are in the first movement. Thus movement has Billy Joel tapping into matters such as:

1) Suburban bitterness in "No Man's Land," ("I see these children with their boredom and their vacant stares/ God help us all if we're to blame for their unanswered prayers)

2) His business manager's theft of Joel's money in "Great Wall of China," ("You take a piece of whatever you touch/Too many pieces mean you're touching too much.")

3) The distance and unattainability of his estranged "blond" wife, Christie Brinkley in "Blond Over Blue" ("But in the darkness, I see her light turned on.")

4) Billy Joel's own mental state in "A Minor Variation," ("Some days I have to give right into the blues...You think I'm crazy/It's such a sad composition/But can you blame me/For what's causing my bad disposition?)

5) His loss of faith at midlife in the world in "Shades of Grey" (These days it's harder to say I know what'I'm fighting for/My faith is falling away/I'm not that sure anymore")

The songs in this "first movement" discuss and explore negative emotions and utilize dissonant sounds to protray a man who has become truly lost in the world. The "cause of his bad disposition" is fully explored here in the first movement and it threatens to consume him.

Then the Second movement begins:

6) In "All About Soul," the listener is presented with something not previously heard on the record - the prominent use of Piano. During the songs of the "first movement" piano was used only once, in "Great Wall of China" but it was not a prominent part of the song here. If the "first movement" could be fairly categorized as the gathering storm, then "All About Soul" represents Billy Joel tying himself to the mast during the worst part of the storm. Though Joel is plagued by the "people who have lost every trace of/human kindness" and that "This life isn't fair" and that "getting tough is not enough," he does learn the answer to what plagues him, Soul. Now, "it's all about soul/It's all about faith and a deeper devotion."

7) "Lullabye" represents the calm after the storm. It represents Billy Joel taking inventory of what remains in his life that is good. And what he finds is his young daughter. And so, he sings her a song and in so doing, sings a song to himself. He answers himself in "No Man's Land" vowing not to be the blame for his own daughter's unanswered prayers, "I promised I would never leave you/ And you should Always Know/ Wherever you may go/No matter where you are/I will never be far away.

8) In learning that it was "All ABout Soul," the listener is then treated to some nice soul quennching gospel music. If in Lullabye we learned that one thing that remained in Joel's life that was good was his daughter, the other thing we learn is that the other thing that remains is his piano. "And I've been searching for something/Taken out of my soul/Something I would never lose/Something somebody stole." "River of Dreams" is a funky soul revival piano-laced fun time. It is the full-fledged return of the "Piano Man" and stands in sharp contrast to the songs in the first movement.

9) In "Two Thousand Years," Billy Joel has reached his new world. Now he must question the direction his life will take. "This is our moment/Here at the crossroads of time/We hope our children carry our dreams down the line/They are the vintage/What kind of life will they live?/Is this a curse or a blessing that we give?"

10) Though it may had been arguable then that Joel was correct in "A Minor Variation" in saying that he had "No way to win when you've already been forgotten," he does not sound bitter in "Famous Last Words" when he says that there's "Nothing left for a dreamer now, only one final serenade."

The "second movement" features piano prominently on every song which stands in sharp contrast to the first movement. The hope of the second movement is juxtaposed by the despair of the first.

Taken individually, there are some songs that are standouts and others that are not. Taken as a whole, all of the songs flow together into one larger song with one larger meaning. Taken together, all the pieces fit and it is this big piece that Billy Joel (who had aspirations to be a history teacher, among other things) puts forth as the lesson of the history of his life. He interprets his legacy. And, most importantly, Joel hopes that the listener has learned something in singing "Ain't that the story of my life."

"Ain't" that indeed.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How is it possible to dislike this album?, February 13, 2006

By 

Lynn Kerry "Lynn" (Lynn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: River of Dreams (Audio CD)

Alright. If I tell anyone here I'm 14, they'll probably throw their head back and laugh. That's nice. Go ahead and do that. OKAY. Now that everyone knows I am of youthful spirit, I'm going to continue this review. Mainly I'm here to defend the song Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel). About two years ago, my grandmother died, and my dad was assigned the part of making a CD with songs for her funeral. My dad hadn't heard this song in a while, and he was considering it for the CD. He said, Jess come here I've just got to play you this. When I first heard it, I thought it was beautiful. If definetly defined my grandmothers usual spirit as a loving, caring mother (even though Joel sang it from the perspective of a father.) I knew that when everyone heard it, they'd think of my grandma. Ever since her funeral, the song has had a very special place in my heart. One of my friends did a solo ballet dance to it and everyone almost cried. I play piano, so my family and my piano teacher searched wide for the music. I ended up playing it for my recital, and inspired a parent to learn it on guitar. All in all, what I'm trying to say is this song is very influential, and speaks to people in many different ways. It reflects on Joel's career in a very positive way. And even if this CD wasn't the fruit of his career, I'd buy it just to have Lullabye. And BTW- I also like some of Billy Joel's songs that fit into other categories, such as We didn't Start the Fire. If I got that wrong, sorry. Anyway, that's all I've got to say. Thanks for reading :)