:: Buy Now: $59.98
:: Track list & details
My Lives is a revealing collection, I believe unintentionally so. For starters, I'm a Billy Joel fan. I know all the hits and quite a few of the albums by heart. I grew up in the Northeast, and he's pretty much ubiquitous back there. In fact, he doesn't get anywhere near the respect in L.A. that he's afforded in that region. I've always wondered why that was. I mean, there have been points during my stay in the City Of Angels when I've referred to Mr. Joel as a "guilty pleasure." Mea culpa! My only excuse is that I got swept along with the tide of opinion that didn't want to give the man his due. The more I thought about it though, I began to realize that you either get Billy Joel or you don't. There have been enough years in the rearview now that one can assess his body of work without being weighed down by two decades of chart dominance. And part of "getting" Billy Joel is knowing from whence he sprung. It would be a fool's errand to attempt an explanation in the scope of this review. However, let me just say that his songs are anthems that are just as real to me as sea salt in the air on cold a Massachusetts afternoon.
The reason for the preceding confessional is that I suspect that Billy Joel may have similar feelings about his work and image. My Lives has been assembled to give the casual fan a chance to see the depth of his catalog. To this end, there are many unreleased demos and alternate versions of familiar songs. Also included are early tracks from the bands he played in prior to his solo success. On the other end of the spectrum, his post-pop career is represented by classical compositions at the end of disc four. The fifth disc is a DVD presenting a concert from 1993's River Of Dreams tour. All of this material is fascinating for Joel fans, but I don't see how it would entice casual listeners. I'm also confused by the need to apologize for the hits. There's nothing wrong with a good pop song, especially the ones that stand the test of time. Plenty of Joel's hits fall into this category. I can understand wanting respect, but the liner notes here are such a laundry list of sales figures, awards, and other benchmarks of significance that I feel like someone's trying to sell me something I've already bought. I'm also at a loss over the choice of a concert from River Of Dreams tour. It's not a particularly inspired show.
Time for one more confession. Billy Joel is one of those artists for which I really only need to hear the songs and look at the album covers. Any further scratchings of the surface have always destroyed the world that these songs create. He is an "everyman," and a large part of that allure is that his songs are my songs. After some thought, I realized that was what early rock 'n' roll was all about, songs that everyone could identify with. Once rock became huge, I think things started to become more about self-expression than commonality. Billy Joel stands uncomfortably astride these two worlds. My Lives throws these conflicts into stark relief.
I do recommend this collection. Any chance to venture inside the mind and soul of an artist is hard to pass up, but I'd just as readily recommend listening to the original albums and hits collections. The story's already there and always has been.
Subscribe to Feed
