The singer continued his music career only as a concert performer. The last studio effort by Joel was River of Dreams (1993), debuting first on Billboard. The performance was recorded and released as the Концерт (Concert) album. In two years, he became the first American musician to give a concert in the Soviet Union. In 1985, Billy Joel delivered two volumes of his best hits. Despite all the difficulties, he managed to produce a powerful release The Nylon Curtain, running seventh on Billboard. During the session for the next studio album, Billy experienced a bike crash and a divorce. This release easily earned the platinum status. It was a collection of primarily unknown songs penned by the musician at the beginning of his career. In 1981, Billy Joel recorded his first live album, Songs in the Attic. They presented a new variety of rock-n-roll performed basically with piano and drums without guitars. The two following studio works were also good sellers and musically interesting. This album featured four tracks entering Top 40. Joel made a breakthrough with the 1977 release of The Stranger, one of the best Columbia Records products in the entire history of the company. Billy’s next album, Turnstiles did not come up to his expectation despite having some remarkable songs like New York State of Mind, or Say Goodbye To Hollywood. The subsequent release was a flop and forced Joel to go back to New York. It achieved great commercial success in several years after the rise of Joel’s star and eventually sold over four million copies. The album itself was not a good seller at once. The opening track from Piano Man (1973) was Billy’s first big hit to enter Top 20. It took the singer many efforts to get rid of obligations imposed by the old contract, but in the end the victory was his. This composition made his personality interesting to the managers of Columbia Records. The track list of Joel’s promotional tour for his debut album included the new song Captain Jack. The first release became a real flop due to its poor recording. The opening move was an extremely disadvantageous contract with the LA Family Productions. He tried to poison himself, but survived with the help of doctors. Music misfortunes and troubles in personal life broke Joel’s spirit. The music they played was too complicated for the audience to accept and understand which destined their only album to be a desperate failure. The next step in Joel’s career was the creation of the Attila duet. With only two albums released, this formation collapsed. In two years Billy joined another band, The Hassles. He gave his first performance in 1965, as a member of The Echoes. Aged four, he already started learning to play piano. If The Stranger showed Joel’s sure hand with pop, 52nd Street was a showcase for his musical range, hinting at the wide variety of styles he would tackle in the coming years.One of the greatest American pianists and singers, William Martial Joel, was born in New York May 9, 1949. “Until the Night” finds Joel transforming his voice into the low, Tom Jones-like croon of a nightclub balladeer, a theatrical turn complemented by lush production featuring a string arrangement, while “Rosalinda’s Eyes” is warm and breezy, a Latin-tinged midtempo number with lightly strummed guitars and vibraphone. “Zanzibar” is among Joel’s more ambitious compositions, with tricky chord changes and touches of jazz fusion, including solos from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard the buoyant “Half a Mile Away” features an entire horn section arranged by Dave Grusin. It’s marked by jazz flourishes-the title itself invokes the heart of New York's mid-20th-century jazz scene-and the carefully sculpted drama of Broadway, and after the three hits that open the album, surprises abound. albums chart, it is a deep-cut record whose appeal goes well beyond its best-known tracks. Though 52nd Street went seven times platinum and was the first of Joel's albums to top the U.S. Both songs were radio smashes, continuing Joel’s hitmaking streak, and the ballad “Honesty” also charted and became one of his signature songs. “My Life” captured the mood of Baby Boomers who saw the limitations of the American Dream and sought their own path, while “Big Shot” poked fun at the pompousness of celebrity and high society. He was still excellent at writing pop hits and had a special knack for turning a cultural catchphrase into a sly commentary on contemporary values. After his commercial breakthrough with 1977’s The Stranger, Billy Joel decided to stretch himself musically, and the outcome was 52nd Street.
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