The album Billy Joel believes is a “real sonic masterpiece”
Most artists search their entire career looking to uncover the perfect album, and never reach their desired destination. However, Billy Joel does not fall into that category.
The case of Joel is unique in the musical landscape. Typically, singer-songwriters have a burning desire to create in the studio, and no matter what success they achieve, they need to consistently churn out albums to occupy the relentless energy in their brain.
Back in his early 40s, Billy Joel basically went, “Y’know what? That’ll do”. He knocked the songwriting on the head, not ‘cos he was out of steam, but because he felt he’d already done the job. Fair play – his back catalogue was stacked, and he knew full well he wasn’t likely to top tunes like ‘Piano Man’ or ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’. Rather than risk putting out something naff, he just called it a day on new albums. And honestly? Respect. It’s been over 30 years, and his legacy’s still rock solid.
While there’s been the occasional one-off single every decade or so, albums have remained off the table. When Joel was actively making albums, the New Yorker threw every fibre of his body at the process, often leaving him utterly exhausted once an LP was finished. Therefore, if he can avoid putting himself through that pain and keep his legacy intact, then why not leave the studio work in the past?
It took countless years of work to arrive at that luxurious position. When he was a younger man, nothing was off limits for Joel, who was prepared to go the extra mile and put his artistic endeavours above all else. There is no greater example of this than his 1982 album Nylon Curtain. The record is an immense source of pride for the singer-songwriter, but the creative process almost broke him.
Admittedly, Nylon Curtain may not have performed as well commercially as previous releases by Joel, but number one plaques weren’t his priority. Instead, the album was a mission of artistic integrity, and he rose to the occasion. As he’d recently finished making the live album Songs in the Attic, Joel had a burning desire to showcase his ability as a studio musician for his next project.
Upon re-releasing the LP in 2011, Joel told fans on his YouTube channel about his aims for the Nylon Curtain: “After Songs in the Attic, I wanted to write, I guess, a real sonic masterpiece. The Nylon Curtain took a long, long time to record, starting with just the basic song and adding to it. We kind of started with the songs from the outside and worked our way in. We didn’t really know what we had until we were getting close to the final mix.”
It took months of graft in his New York City studio to get the album where he wanted it, pushing Joel right to the brink. But in the end, all the blood, sweat and tears poured into The Nylon Curtain were worth it – every last drop.
Elaborating upon the strenuous recording process, Joel noted: “There’s so much going on in this; it’s very rich, almost like I was trying to go for a Sgt. Pepper type of thing, where I was experimenting with playing the studio as an experiment. It was a labour, a labour of love, but it was exhausting, and I think by the end of this album, I felt like I had almost died. It was just a great deal of work, and I consider this maybe my best recorded effort.”
Joel added with a strong sense of satisfaction: “This is, essentially, the material I’m most proud of and the recording I’m most proud of until my last album in 1993.”
Joel didn’t only want to make a record that sounded impressive, he also wanted to have his say on the state of play in the US during an uncertain time. The message of Nylon Curtain was inspired by the presidency of Ronald Reagan, with Joel saying citizens had “diminishing horizons” due to the harsh reality of Reaganomics.
“There’s a lot of sadness in this, but that makes for good material,” he added.
When he was in the studio, the only opinion that mattered was his own, rather than chasing chart success or awards. Although Nylon Curtain was nominated for ‘Album of the Year’ at the Grammys, losing out didn’t matter to Joel, as he’d already won the greatest prize of all in his mind. He set himself a challenge to create a masterpiece and, in the only eyes that mattered, succeeded.
