Billy Joel "Storm Front"

Storm Front is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on October 17, 1989. It was Joel's third album to reach No. 1 in the U.S. and features "We Didn't Start the Fire", a fast-paced song that cataloged a list of historical events, trends, and cultural icons from 1949 (when Joel was born) until 1989, which was Joel's third Billboard No. 1 hit.

"I Go to Extremes", a song describing the ups and downs of his emotional life, placed at No. 6. Other songs that placed in the top 100 were "And So It Goes" (No. 37), "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" (No. 57), and "That's Not Her Style" (No. 77). The album was also nominated for five Grammy Awards. The album's cover depicts the maritime storm warning flag indicating wind forces 10–12, the highest intensity on the Beaufort scale. Joel has stated in recent Sirius XM segments that he was inspired by Peter Gabriel's 1986 track "Sledgehammer", as an inspiration for the "driving rhythm section" when he was writing the title track.

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 US country charts, and also entered the UK Singles Chart.

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.

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Joel.

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
6. "Storm Front" – 5:17
7. "Leningrad" – 4:06
8. "State of Grace" – 4:30
9. "When in Rome" – 4:44
10. "And So It Goes" – 3:38

Produced by Billy Joel and Mick Jones

Mixed by Tom Lord-Alge (tracks 1–3) and Jay Healy (tracks 3–10).

Engineered by Jay Healy

Assistant engineers – Dana Becker, Tim Crich, David Dorn, Suzanne Hollander, Joe Pirrera and Gary Solomon.

Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).

Art direction – Chris Austopchuk

Back photo – Timothy White

Front photo – Frank Ockenfels