Storm Front (album)

Storm Front
Studio album by Billy Joel
Released	October 17, 1989
Recorded	The Hit Factory Times Square Studio, New York, NY Right Track Recording, New York, NY The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver, British Columbia The Power Station, New York, NY Spring-Summer, 1988-1989
Genre	Rock
Length	44:34
Label	Columbia
Producer	Billy Joel, Mick Jones
Billy Joel chronology
Концерт (1987) Storm Front (1989) River of Dreams (1993)
Singles from Storm Front
"We Didn't Start the Fire" Released: 1989 "Leningrad" Released: 1989 "I Go to Extremes" Released: 1989 "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" Released: April 1990 "That's Not Her Style" Released: July 1990 "And So It Goes" Released: October 1990

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Deseret News	(Positive)[2]
The Los Angeles Times	[3]
The New York Times	(Positive)[4]
People	(Not favorable)[5]
Robert Christgau	B [6]
Rolling Stone	[7]

Storm Front is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on October 17, 1989. It features one of Joel's three #1 hits, "We Didn't Start the Fire", a fast-paced song that cataloged a list of historical events, trends, and cultural icons from after World War II (when Joel was born) until 1989, and "Leningrad", a story-song about a friendship between an American and a Russian during the final years of the Cold War.

"I Go to Extremes", a song describing the ups and downs of his emotional life, placed at #6. Other songs that placed in the top 100 were "And So It Goes" (#37), "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" (#57), and "That's Not Her Style" (#77). The cover depicts a storm warning flag.

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Joel.

Side One

1. "That's Not Her Style" – 5:10
2. "We Didn't Start the Fire" – 4:50
3. "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" – 3:44
4. "I Go to Extremes" – 4:23
5. "Shameless" – 4:26

Side Two

1. "Storm Front" – 5:17
2. "Leningrad" – 4:06
3. "State of Grace" – 4:30
4. "When in Rome" – 4:44
5. "And So It Goes" – 3:38

Cover versions

• In 1991, Garth Brooks recorded "Shameless" on his album Ropin' the Wind. Brooks' cover version was also released as a single and reached the top of the U.S. country charts, and also entered the UK Singles Chart.
• Paul Anka covered "I Go to Extremes" on his 2007 album Classic Songs, My Way.
• Jennifer Warnes covered "And So It Goes" for her 2001 album The Well.

Production

• Produced by Billy Joel and Mick Jones
• Mixed by Tom Lord-Alge and Jay Healy
• Engineered by Dana Becker, Tim Crich, Jay Healy, Suzanne Hollander, Joe Pirrera and Gary Solomon
• Mastered by Ted Jensen

Band personnel

Storm Front marked a radical change in Joel's backing band. Since his last studio album (The Bridge), both Russell Javors and Doug Stegmeyer, long-time members of Joel's band, were discharged from their respective duties as rhythm guitarist and bass guitarist. Javors was replaced with Joey Hunting for the record and by Tommy Byrnes on tour while Stegmeyer was replaced by Schuyler Deale. Band regulars Liberty DeVitto, David Brown and Mark Rivera were retained. Joel also hired the percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Crystal Taliefero beginning with this album.

• Billy Joel: vocals, acoustic piano, clavinet, accordion, Hammond organ, harpsichord, synthesizers, percussion
• Liberty DeVitto: drums, percussion
• David Brown: lead guitar, Midi guitar solo on Storm Front
• Joey Hunting: rhythm guitar
• Crystal Taliefero: percussion
• Schuyler Deale: bass guitar
• Jeff Jacobs: synthesizers, horn arrangements

Additional personnel

• Don Brooks: harmonica
• Mick Jones: guitar on "Storm Front", guitar solo on "State of Grace"
• John Mahoney(not actor): keyboards, keyboard programming
• Sammy Merendino: electronic percussion
• Kevin Jones: keyboard programming
• Doug Kleeger: sounds effects
• Dominic Cortese: accordion
• Itzhak Perlman: violin on "The Downeaster 'Alexa'"
• Lenny Pickett: saxophone
• Andrew Love, Wayne Jackson: The Memphis Horns
• Bill Zampino: choral arrangement
• Chuck Arnold: choral leader
• Arif Mardin: orchestral arrangement
• Background vocals: Billy Joel, Mick Jones, Richard Marx on "Storm Front" and "That's Not Her Style", Crystal Taliefero, Jeff Jacobs, Patricia Darcy-Jones, Frank Floyd, Brian Ruggles, Joe Lynn Turner, Ian Lloyd, Brenda White King, Curtis King

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
1990	"We Didn't Start the Fire"	Song of the Year[8]	Nominated
		Record of the Year[8]	Nominated
		Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male[8]	Nominated
1991	Storm Front	Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male[9]	Nominated
	Storm Front (produced by Billy Joel and Mick Jones)	Producer of the Year (Non-Classical)[10]	Nominated

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1989–90) Position Australian ARIA Albums Chart[11] 1 United States Billboard 200[12] 1 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[13] 4 UK Albums Chart [14] 5 German Media Control Albums Chart [15] 5 Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[16] 8 Belgian Albums Chart[17] 9 New Zealand Albums Chart [18] 9 Austrian Albums Chart[19] 10 European Albums Chart[20] 13 Dutch Mega Albums Chart[21] 14 Swiss Albums Chart[22] 30 Finnish Albums Chart[23] 33

Year-end charts Chart (1989) Position Australian Albums Chart[24] 41 UK Albums Chart[25] 73 Chart (1990) Position Canadian Albums Chart[26] 29 Dutch Albums Chart[27] 67 German Albums Chart[28] 4 U.S. Billboard Year-end[29] 10

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[30]	Platinum	70,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[31]	Gold	25,000
Canada (Music Canada)[32]	2× Platinum	200,000
Germany (BVMI)[33]	Platinum	500,000
Japan (RIAJ)[34]	Platinum	110,000[35][36]
Netherlands (NVPI)[37]	Gold	50,000[38]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[39]	Gold	7,500
United Kingdom (BPI)[40]	Platinum	300,000
United States (RIAA)[41]	4× Platinum	4,000,000
^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

1. Storm Front (album) at AllMusic
2. Boren, Ray (1989-01-19). "`STORM FRONT' BRINGS OUT THE POPULIST IN JOEL". deseretnews.com. Deseret News. Retrieved 2011-08-31.
3. Boehm, Mike (1989-12-03). "Imitative Billy Joel Still Seeking Respectability : BILLY JOEL "Storm Front."". articles.latimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-08-31.
4. Holden, Stephen (1989-10-29). "HOME ENTERTAINMENT/RECORDINGS: RECENT RELEASES". nytimes.com (The New York Times). Retrieved 2011-08-31.
5. Hiltbrand, David /Novak, Ralph / Abrahams, Andrew / Small, Michael (1989-11-20). "Picks and Pans Review: Storm Front". People. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
6. Christgau, Robert. Consumer Guide Reviews: Billy Joel. Retrieved 2011-06-29.
7. John McAlley (1989-11-30). "Music Reviews : Storm Front by Billy Joel". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2011-08-29
8. "Here's list of nominees from all 77 categories". deseretnews.com. Deseret News. Retrieved 2011-08-31.
9. Cromelin, Richard / Hunt Dennis (1991-01-11). "Grammys--Round 1 : Pop music: Phil Collins' 8 nominations lead the pack and Quincy Jones sets a record with his 74th nod. The winners will be revealed on Feb. 20.". articles.latimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
10. Cromelin, Richard / Hunt Dennis (1991-01-11). "Grammys--Round 1 : Pop music: Phil Collins' 8 nominations lead the pack and Quincy Jones sets a record with his 74th nod. The winners will be revealed on Feb. 20.". articles.latimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
11. "australian-charts.com Billy Joel - Storm Front". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
12. Allmusic - Storm Front > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
13. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.6698&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Missing or empty |title= (help)
14. "Chart Stats - Billy Joel - An Innocent Man". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
15. "Album Search: Billy Joel" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
16. ビリー・ジョエル-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of Storm Front by Billy Joel" Check |url= value (help). oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
17. http://books.google.co.uk/books?lr=&rview=1&id=bSQEAAAAMBAJ&q=billy+joel#v=snippet&q=billy%20joel&f=false
18. "charts.org.nz - Billy Joel - Storm Front". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
19. "Billy Joel - Storm Front - austriancharts.at". Retrieved 2011-08-19.
20. http://books.google.ca/books?id=bCgEAAAAMBAJ&lr=&rview=1|title=Hits of the World - Eurochart|work=Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|date=17 March 1990
21. "dutchcharts.nl Billy Joel - Storm Front". dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
22. "Billy Joel - Storm Front - hitparade.ch". Retrieved 2011-08-08.
23. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
24. "End Of Year Charts - Top 50 Albums 1989". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
25. "UK best albums 1989". Retrieved 2011-08-29.
26. "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1990". RPM. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
27. http://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1990&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-08-29. Missing or empty |title= (help)
28. "End Of Year Charts - Top 5 Albums 1990". Retrieved 2011-08-29.
29. "Billboard rates the top hits for 1990". deseretnews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
30. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
31. "Austrian album certifications – Billy Joel – Storm Front" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Billy Joel in the field Interpret. Enter Storm Front in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
32. "Canadian album certifications – Billy Joel – Storm Front". Music Canada.
33. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Billy Joel; 'Storm Front')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
34. "Japanese album certifications – ビリー・ジョエル – STORM FRONT" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1993年01月 on the drop-down menu
35. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
36. a-ビリー・ジョエル "Yamachan Land (Japanese Chart Archives) - Albums Chart Daijiten - Billy Joel" Check |url= value (help) (in Japanese). Original Confidence. 2007-12-30. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
37. "Dutch album certifications – Billy Joel – Storm Front" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.
38. NVPI "de branchevereniging van de entertainmentindustrie" Check |url= value (help). Retrieved 2011-08-17.Note: User needs to enter "Billy Joel" in the "Artiest" field and click below "zoek" button.
39. THE FIELD id (chart number) MUST BE PROVIDED for NEW ZEALAND CERTIFICATION.
40. "British album certifications – Billy Joel – Storm Front". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Storm Front in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
41. "American album certifications – Billy Joel – Storm Front". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH