The 1970 Billy Joel Metal Album That Time Forgot

Billy Joel in a metal band sounds like a late night joke, but Attila’s lone 1970 album is a lot stranger and heavier than the punchlines suggest. In this episode, we dig into the self titled organ driven proto metal record he cut with drummer Jon Small for Epic Records, from the meat locker cover photo to the stories of audiences fleeing their short lived club sets. We trace Joel’s path from Long Island psych rockers The Hassles to Attila’s Hammond through Marshall tone, then forward to Cold Spring Harbor and Piano Man, asking how one songwriter could pivot from medieval siege riffs to precise piano ballads in just a few years. Along the way we debate whether Attila deserves its “worst rock album ever” reputation, why the first three tracks feel like a lost EP for Deep Purple and Sabbath fans, and what this record might sound like filtered through Fu Manchu or Jack White’s world.

If you love heavy organ, stoner rock, early 70s hard rock, or the weird chapters in big artists’ careers, this one is for you.

Highlights:

01:18 poll ballot rundown;

10:13 legendary negative review;

17:21 Hammond through Marshall breakdown;

24:14 proto metal EP inside the LP;

53:38 dream reissue and cover band ideas.

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