In 1989, 70s piano rock crooner Billy Joel released his eleventh studio record Storm Front, which sold well and rendered seven Billboard singles, but was roundly rejected by critics. It would take Joel four years after Storm Front to put out a follow-up album, four years filled with behind-the-scenes turmoil in Joel's private life, multiple embezzlement lawsuits directed towards members of Joel's team, bouts with depression and anxiety, and a rising sense of middle-aged existential dread.

These experiences would color the material on Billy Joel's twelfth record River of Dreams, which in addition to containing markedly more serious, insular, and dark material than had been on previous records, would signal Joel's exit from pop music songwriting. Critics and fans were sharply divided upon its release, and in spite of its commercial success River of Dreams generated a great deal of controversy between people who couldn't decide if the album was a grand finale on Joel's storied career, or a glorified mid-life crisis.

That's what we're here to find out. On this episode of Jukebox Zeroes, Lilz and Patrick herald the long-awaited return of frequent guest Scott Kurland to dive deep beneath the surface of River of Dreams. Will the trio unearth buried treasure and wonders aplenty underneath the waves? Or come down with a violent case of the 90s soft rock bends in the briny murk?

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