Billy Joel has been a constant presence on the arena-rock scene during the 21st Century because of his soon-to-end decade-long monthly residency at Madison Square Garden. But, on the other hand, hearing new music has become extremely rare.
Joel’s last album of pop-rock music was the mediocre River of Dreams in 1993. After that, he composed a dozen classical piano pieces for Fantasies & Delusions, an LP featuring solo performances played by Richard Joo that was released in 2001.
Since then, Joel has only delivered two additional songs: “All My Life” in 2007 (a love song to his third wife, Katie Lee) and “Christmas in Fallujah” a tune he wrote but never recorded and gave to the young singer-songwriter Cass Dillon to record.
After those two efforts, Billy Joel released nothing for 17 years. Happily, the drought has ended with the song he performed recently at the 66th Grammy Awards. “Turn the Lights Back On” is available as a download on both iTunes and Amazon Music and as a limited edition seven-inch single.
Joel seldom worked with other composers, but on this tune he did. “Turn the Lights Back On” was cowritten with Freddy Wexler, Wayne Hector and Arthur Bacon. Wexler (who’s worked with Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande and others) produced the session with Joel.
“Turn the Lights Back On” is a love ballad, but Rolling Stone suggests that some listeners believe Joel is also singing to his fans: “I’m late, but I’m here right now, and I’m trying to find the magic that we lost somehow. Maybe I was blind but I see you now.”
It’s a piano-heavy arrangement that could easily fit on any of Joel’s popular studio recordings. In this way, Joel’s surprising comeback follows in the footsteps of the Beatles (whose last song, “Now and Then,” became a hit) and the Rolling Stones (who also recently released a new album, Hackney Diamonds). All three acts proved there is still talent burning in some of the old classic rockers.
