★★★★★
On top of all that comes A Matter Of Trust: The Bridge To Russia, a sprawling 2-CD/Blu-Ray retrospective of a time when Joel was still a pop titan. In 1987, in the midst of Cold War tensions, he did a brief tour of the Soviet Union. A new documentary included here goes into detail about the cultural differences that the power of the music and Joel's relentless energy eventually overcame. Plus, there's great footage of Joel going ballistic and tipping over a piano...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2014-06-04
★★★★★
The average hipster may not be interested in Billy Joel's archival release of A Matter of Trust - The Bridge to Russia (upgrading live album ???????, as a two-CD and a new deluxe version with DVD/Blu-ray), but that's their loss. As Chuck Klosterman has previously pointed out (see Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs,) the abstract relationship between the perception of Joel and the appreciation of his product could be said to have unfairly ghettoized him whilst he was making the best music...
- www.popmatters.com
2014-05-23
★★★★★
A Matter of Trust - The Bridge To Russia The latest album to be remastered is this 1987 album, which came two years before the Berlin wall came down, and with Russian-American relations just beginning to thaw. At the time, accepting the invitation from the Kremlin was a brave move, and the documentary reveals a fascinating insight into the tough opening to the concert, with stern faced Russians leaving their seats in the front row, only to be replaced by jubilant, over-excited fans, including...
- www.music-news.com
2014-05-11
★★★★★
Joel was personally invited
- recordcollectormag.com
2014-04-24
★★★★★
Black-and-white imagery has something of a special vibe to it when done right. While the earliest days of film, television, and photography were monochromatic because of technological limitations, many artists have opted to use the black-and-white color scheme intentionally to create a certain atmosphere... and why shouldn't they...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2014-01-28
★★★★★
Billy Joel's fifth album, The Stranger, was his breakthrough; four of the album's tracks landed in the Top 40, the album itself reached No. 2, and the song "Just the Way You Are" picked up two Grammys. This 30th anniversary edition features a remastered version of the album (by the record's original producer, Phil Ramone) that makes Joel's melodic pop positively sparkle-a pop that stands at odds with the frequently bittersweet commentary of the lyrics...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2013-04-25
★★★★★
After a lukewarm response to his 1971 debut Cold Spring Harbor, and besieged by contractual problems, Billy Joel took an unusual step when plotting his next career move. He left his Long Island home base, relocated to Los Angeles and spent six months playing unnoticed in a piano bar under the name Bill Martin...
- recordcollectormag.com
2013-04-02
★★★★★
After a lukewarm response to his 1971 debut Cold Spring Harbor, and besieged by contractual problems, Billy Joel took an unusual step when plotting his next career move. He left his Long Island home base, relocated to Los Angeles and spent six months playing unnoticed in a piano bar under the name Bill Martin...
- www.recordcollectormag.com
2012-02-06
★★★★★
The criteria for an album getting the deluxe two-CD reissue isn't immediately obvious anymore because pretty much every album that's more than a decade old will show up eventually. That said, on occasion, some impressive material is unearthed, as is the case with Piano Man. Originally released towards the end of 1973, Billy Joel's second album is from the Almost Famous era, where singer-songwriters jostled with rock bands in the charts...
- exclaim.ca
2012-02-02