• AllMyVinyl #83
• Band: Billy Joel
• Album Title: Fantasies & Delusions
• Release Date: 3 Nov 2023 (Original: 2 Oct 2001)
• Date purchased: Gift
• Location purchased: Amazon
• Color of vinyl: black
• Number of discs: 1, sorta
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

First off, the formal name of this album is “Opus 1-10 Fantasies & Delusions – Music for Solo Piano”, but I wasn’t about to write all that in the title.  People know this as “Fantasies & Delusions”.

This will absolutely be the shortest of these in my series, I think.  That’s because there’s not a ton to say here.  For starters this album has always been a disappointment to me.  When it was first announced back in 2001, I got excited. A new Billy Joel album for the first time in 8 years (at that point).  That was always something to get excited about.  Then I found out what it actually WAS, and my excitement level dropped a lot.  An album of just piano music, no vocals, and not even played by Billy himself?  I was a Joel fan so I picked it up on CD of course.  I got it home, and well…  I had hoped to force myself into it, even WILL myself to liking this, but I just couldn’t.  I saw the entire thing as a disappointment.  Joel fans didn’t want THIS – they wanted another album.

This is an album of just piano music – it’s played by Billy’s friend “Richard Joo” (now goes by the name Hyung-ki Joo).  The playing is fine enough – my feelings towards this album are in no way a slag on Joo’s playing – or even Billy’s writing.  If you’re into classical music, this is probably really good stuff.  But as a fan who bought all of Joel’s rock albums prior to this, I was never gonna get past that feeling of “Oh yeah, THAT one…”

In 2023 I was gifted the box set “The Vinyl Collection Volume 2” as a Christmas present.  It contains Fantasies & Delusions, which was the first ever release of the album on vinyl.  When it came out originally in 2001, it was CD only (for physical media formats), so this 2023 release is the first ever.  It does sound QUITE good on vinyl, but then it should given what is on here music wise.  I did listen to the entire album today.  But I believe it’s the first time since it was brand new that I did that.  I did listen a few times in full in the first few months, and then never again until today.

The music here is decent enough – if you’re in the right frame of mind.  But “Only the Good Die Young” this is not. It’s just I’ve never been able to get past that feeling of “Come on dude – put out a real album”.   I’m still waiting.  As are we all.  “Turn The Lights Back On” was a nice track, but I want a proper Joel album – it’s been 31 years now since the last one, and Fantasies & Delusions doesn’t count, IMO.