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.

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 :)

As a fan of Billy Joel, I immediately expect to like his work. When 'River of Dreams' was released, I was a bit apprehensive due to the bad reviews. I listened to it once, then again and again, absolutely loving it.

The first song, 'No Man's Land', is an edgy number which starts the CD in high gear. The next 3 songs aren't great, but they have their moments. Each contains shades of vintage Billy Joel.

The rest of the CD is where the praise is deserved. 'Shades of Grey' is a reflective piece showing Billy's growth. 'All About Soul' continues this theme. 'Lullabye' is a beautiful song written for his daughter. It is soulful, thoughtful and moving.

The title track is a bouncy, fun song, but introspective in its' own right. I rank it as one of Billy's all-time best. The last 2 songs are just typical Billy. They seem like your average Billy song, which means they are excellent.

The CD seems very connected, almost like a theme album. These may not be classic rock songs, but they are enjoyable and meaningful. This CD never seems to get the respect it deserves, but neither does Billy.

It's been nearly 12 years since I first listened to "River Of Dreams" and it is still part of my regular listening rotation.

It never gets old! But I think it is also one of the most importaint albums I have ever heard.

It is not only my favorite album of the 90's but in my top five of all time. I can understand that not everyone, perhaps not even every Billy Joel fan, would agree with me, and some people may not even like the album, after all we all have albums that are special to us for reasons others just don't get, but I happen to think this is the apex of Billy's writting tallents. or any rock artist for that matter.

With the exception of the title track and "All About Soul," there aren't a lot of huge hits here, but that has more to do with radio at the time and Billy Joel being "out of his classic period" (as I have heard his later albums refered to) than anything else. The fact is that every song is expertly aranged and would make a fine radio single, but radio began moving in a different direction then (yet, he still managed 3 singles from this album) And consider this, this (to date) being his last album, Billy Joel never had an album that was not a smash and yielded one or more hit singles, this one included (about 4 million copies sold here in the states alone). That is huge! And it is often overlooked when speaking about Billy Joel's career. He is one of only a handfull of artists to span 3 decades in rock music AND somehow hit EVERY SINGLE TIME. Not one album after he became a superstar flopped. Amazing!

Yes, in the late 70s and early 80s he was turning out hits back to back every year, so much so that about 10 years into his career he had a double album greatest hits collection (I wonder if that isn't some kind of record - that is something I would think only the Beatles and Stones have pulled off). His later career hits coming less frequently, is not due to the fact he began doing lesser work, it's because he stopped pumping out an album every year as he did for the 10 years prior. He began delivering new music every three or four years and every album had just as many hits as his heyday records, but they were now spread out over the years. The hits he did give us were just as good (some better than) as his classics and the albums as a whole were better: tougher, stronger, more grown up, and containing songs with lyrics that, on paper and removed from the music, were pure poetry.

This was where I went from being a fan of Billy Joel's music to being a fan of Billy Joel. Essentialy, I mean, I gained respect for him as a lyricist, a performer and he became an artist who touched me, I could relate to, and I found great advice and wisdom in his words, as opposed to just loving great hits like "Only the Good Die Young" and "Movin' Out." You can find hints of the deeper Billy Joel throughout his career ("The Stranger," and "Nylon Curtain," certainly had more beneath the surface), but it was with "River Of Dreams," and the almost-as-good "Storm Front" where Billy began building whole albums of emotion, subtext and context that were still rockers and maintained the integrity of the sound his fans love.

In "growing," many artists feel they need to go off in some completely different direction and end up alienating those who have been listening forever. Die Hard fans will follow, but many not for long because all of a sudden this is not the person that once moved and inspired you - and radio surely won't embrace a new sound, great an album as the artist may have (look at R.E.M.). Billy Joel though, "grew" almost undercover. The songs still sounded like Billy Joel and he fooled radio with catchy hits like "We didn't Start the Fire," and "The River Of Dreams," but the lyrics and albums as a whole were the works of new artist. Thank God he could still play and sing like Billy Joel.

"River Of Dreams," blew me away. Maybe it was whatever was going on in my life at the time (I was only newly in high school - Nirvana should have been speaking to me at the time as they did most everyone else), maybe I just never was able to see myself in someone's songs before and relate to their pain, joy, doubts and indiference. Everyone has that album in their life and "River Of Dreams" is mine. On this record, Billy Joel says in a 3 minute song things I have always felt, but had no idea how to say. Like a book, the album is a complete work - a begining, a middle and an end. The first 5 songs focus on anger, doubt, betrayl. Then comes the questions and possible solutions (if any) and finally a realization of what matters and a way of finding peace. Every song is awash in imagery (from the "big machines" and multiplexes of "No Man's Land" to the rivers and deserts of the title track to the "apples in the early morn" and chairs being stacked and lights being covered for the end of the season in "Famous Last Words," perhaps the most helpless lyics ever set to a peppy beat, but that has always been Joel's forte`, witness songs like "Movin' Out," "Scenes From An Italian...," and "Allentown" just to name a few)and some of them require only a listen to make you feel better about your own problems (such as the albums biggest standout among many - the angry/blusey "A Minor Variation," one of Joe's best-ever vocal performances).

The casual Billy Joel fan will no doubt disagree with much of this, and I could be over selling it a bit. But I didn't pick the album up and say this is going to be my favorite Billy Joel album and my favorite album of the decade; something about it must be special; as corny as it sounds,the album picked me. Most won't love it on this same level that I do, and I can understand that; but I can't understand how anyone can think the music and lyrics are anything less than outstanding.

If "River Of Dreams" is indeed Billy Joel's last album of new material, it will stand as his finest.

All the way back in 1993, Billy Joel released the stunning single "River Of Dreams." With its gospel inflected chorus and snappy pop arrangement, I considered it one of the best singles of the year and was eager to hear the album. Little did we know that Joel was effectively closing the door on his pop career, with only one new song issued in the years since (other than his classical work). But much like "

," Joel tackled the recording of "River Of Dreams" from a mature perspective but now also from the vantage point of a family man and father.

That meant that his old brashness was tempered with a mature wisdom. As simplistic as it may seem, "Shades Of Grey" making the claim that "I'm old and tired of war, I hear the other man's words but I'm not that sure anymore" are a universal poem from a man moving through his late 40's. That's not to say he has totally mellowed. His former manager and ex-brother-in-law gets a musical spanking on "Great Wall Of China" (he was accused of embezzling from Joel while serving as his manager).

The main topic, however, remains love. Christie Brinkley was still his wife and the love songs on "River of Dreams" are all directed to her (she designed the cover, as well). His daughter Alexa is the focus of a beautiful "Lullabye," once more showing this to be Billy The Family Man album. His optimism comes through on the last two songs, "2000 Years" and "Famous Last Words," which bluntly stated "It's time to put this book away, ain't that the story of my life?" Who knew that the last verse on the album would be the epithet of his popular music career?

Just the same, as an album of immaculate pop, "River Of Dreams" is an excellent way to close the curtain. I may be hoping for Joel to return to the studio, but this will always have a place on my CD shelf. But one can always hope that Joel may once again feel like he has something new to say.