I love this album!!! This was such a strong follow up to "An Innocent Man!" Billy put away those '50's style songs and picked up the guitar a jammed. My all time favorite Billy song "This is the Time" is on this CD. Also with songs like "A Matter of Trust", "Modern Woman", Big Man on Mulberry Street", "Baby Grand" and So on.... This CD has 9 tracks that will show you just why Billy Joel is one of the best song writers in rock history.

The secret to the success of any cd lies with the individual. Sometimes it is the hook, melody means a great deal to the experience of course. For others, it's rhythm, and still others lyrics supplanted by strong melody and/or rhythm.

Unfortunately, music is often judged on first go round. Such was the case with me regarding The Bridge. I had dismissed it when it came out, but recently I spent time in my studio (i.e. my car, with wonderful speakers and the solitude of the drive)and studied Billy from the early years through his last original. I was very much impressed with the diversity of this work, and I suggest several listens.....Modern Woman may sound 80ish to some, but I think it stands on its own. Mulberry Street is broad, a large sound with big band, and it is countered by the more typical Joel songs like Matter of Trust and This is the Time.

I think that 'veterans' like myself, guys/gals who grew up in the late 60's and have seen and heard the evolution of rock music, have learned that what initially clicks will sometimes wear down, and often other works grow with time, and that is true because we are changing, ever changing. I suggest a nice car ride, the music turned up, a mug of coffee, and 40 minutes spent with The Bridge. It's not Billy Joel's best, it's far from his worst, and for you, it might very well be special!!!

Joel is accomplished at putting out some very charming, but also very cheesy songs. This album drips with the atmosphere of the 80s, to the extent that Cyndi Lauper guests on this album.

To be fair, Joel included a real rocker on this album - A Matter of Trust. This song used to be one of my favorite tracks of his.

But my favorites on the album are mostly the secondary songs. Running on Ice has some great drum work. Songs like Temptation are pure schmaltz, but it doesn't feel embarrassing. My favorites here are the two weakest songs - Code of Silence and Getting Closer. Both of these sound like much more forced songs for Joel, who usually has such smoothness to his work that you can't help but think that the song just poured out the way it was. These songs sound like he had to do some work to put them together. And I like that. I respect that sort of dedication to a song that obviously wasn't going to be a single.

While I have a love for this album, I don't know if it's the sort of love that other people feel. I've noticed that a lot of Joel fans are much more into the hits than I am. If you find yourself really enjoying his other non-hits, this album probably has something to offer you.

"After 1986, what else could be new?" Billy Joel asked that at the end of his 1986 Top 10 synth-rocker "Modern Woman," but perhaps he should've been the one answering. He had come off a successful greatest hits collection and popular, if inconsequential, studio set (1983's "Innocent Man"). Perhaps this was the time for more important, weighty matters and melodies.

Perhaps not. On "The Bridge," Joel's melodic sense never fails him, even while stifling the jazzy "Big Man On Mulberry Street" (remember its being featured in "Moonlighting?") with a screechy vocal, or employing two of 1986's hottest guest stars (Steve Winwood and Cyndi Lauper, both had #1 hits that year) to guest, respectively, on "Code of Silence" (Joel's first co-writing credit),and the petulant, seething "Getting Closer."

Joel is best addressing relationship politics with sarcasm and sentimentality. His heart is in the right place addressing musical (w/Ray Charles on "Baby Grand") or familial ("Temptation," the wistful "This Is The Time.") influences. Lyrically, he's less sure of himself ("Big Man" the clunky rocker "Matter of Trust," the "Turnstiles"-ish "Running on Ice") and serves as his own devil's advocate (humorously in "Modern Woman.")

"The Bridge" was a mid-point album of sorts for Joel, who would follow with the more pretentious, awkward "Storm Front." As it was, it marked the last Joel album produced by Phil Ramone, the last with most of his touring band (except for drummer Liberty DeVitto), and to some degree, the last shred of cohesion with his 70s work. Call it a bridge crossed rather than one built.

It had to happen sometime. Billy Joel finally misses the mark and releases the weakest album he's done. Not that this album is bad. It's just a mixed bag. The album starts off with the fast and annoying "Running On Ice". It's one of the most forgettable songs he's done. "This Is The Time" is a nice song, but nothing very memorable. "A Matter Of Trust" is a great song. It's a fun uptempo rocker that shows that Billy can play guitar!. The rest has good points and low points. The last two songs, "Code Of Silence", and "Getting Closer" are the best parts. They are great, classic Billy songs. If only they were kept over to be put on an album that was as good as those two songs. "Big Man On Mulberry Street" is a great, jazzy up-beat tune. It's definnitley one of Billy's best accomplishments musically. "Temptation" sounds like too typical ballads that lesser artists would do. "Baby Grand" with Ray Charles, is nice and classy, but a little too somber. "Modern Woman" is fun and up-beat, but hardly memorable. The Bridge is the least of Billy Joel's albums, but has some good moments. Mixed bag. Could of been so much better.